
LIBRARY ,0F CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright No. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



AMONG THE FOREST PEOPLE 




THE HOME IN THE FOREST. 



Frontispiece 



Among the Forest People 



BY 

CLARA DILLINGHAM PIERSON 

AUTHOR OF "AMONG THE MEADOW PEOPLE" 

Illustrated by F. C. GORDON 




NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

31 West Twenty-third Street 

1898 



ncjj 



15100 



Copyright, 1898 

BY 

E. P. DUTTON & CO. 




TWOCOfu tD. 




c Tknicfcerbocfeer press, Hew IL'orh 



2n<* 



TO THE CHILDREN. 



Dear Little Friends : 

Since I told my stories of the meadow 
people a year ago, so many children have 
been asking me questions about them 
that I thought it might be well to send 
you a letter with these tales of the forest 
folk. 

I have been asked if I am acquainted 
with the little; creatures about whom I tell 
you, and I want you to know that I am 
very well acquainted indeed. Perhaps 
the Ground Hog is my oldest friend 
among the forest people, just as the Tree 
Frog is among those of the meadow. 
Some of the things about which I shall 
tell you, I have seen for myself, and the 
other stories have come to me in another 

7 



8 To the Children. 

way. I was there when the swaggering 
Crow drove the Hens off the barnyard 
fence, and I was quite as much worried 
about the Mourning Doves' nest as were 
Mrs. Goldfinch and Mrs. Oriole. 

I have had a letter from one little boy 
who wants to know if the meadow people 
really talk to each other. Of course they 
do. And so do all the people in these 
stories. They do not talk in the same 
way as you and I, but they have their 
own language, which they understand just 
as well as we do English. You know not 
even all children speak alike. If you and 
I were to meet early some sunshiny day, 
we would say to each other, " Good morn- 
ing," but if a little German boy should 
join us, he would say, " Guten Morgen," 
and a tiny French maiden would call out, 
" Bon jour," when she meant the same 
thing. 

These stories had to be written in the 
English language, so that you could un- 



To the Children. 9 

derstand. If I were to tell them in the 
Woodpecker, the Rabbit, or the Rattle- 
snake language, all of which are under- 
stood in the forest, they might be very 
fine stories, but I am afraid you would 
not know exactly what they meant ! 

I hope you will enjoy hearing about 
my forest friends. They are delightful 
people to know, and you must get ac- 
quainted with them as soon as you can. 
I should like to have you in little chairs 
just opposite my own and talk of these 
things quite as we used to do in my kin- 
dergarten. But that cannot be, so I have 
written you this letter, and think that per- 
haps some of you will write to me, telling 
which story you like best, and why you 
like it. 

Your friend, 
Clara Dillingham Pierson. 

Stanton, Michigan, 
April 15, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



MR. RED SQUIRREL COMES TO LIVE IN THE 

FOREST .... 
WHY MR. GREAT HORNED OWL HATCHED THE 

EGGS ...... 

THE SWAGGERING CROW 

THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER CHILDREN 

THE NIGHT MOTH WITH A CROOKED FEELER 

THE BEES AND THE KINGBIRD 

THE STORY OF THE COWBIRD's EGG 

MRS. MOURNING DOVE'S HOUSEKEEPING . 

THE YOUNG BLUE JAY WHO WAS NOT BRAVE 

ENOUGH TO BE AFRAID . 
THE RED SQUIRRELS BEGIN HOUSEKEEPING 
THE BIGGEST LITTLE RABBIT LEARNS TO SEE 
THE LITTLE BAT WHO WOULDN'T GO TO BED 
A SWARM LEAVES THE BEE TREE 
THE HAUGHTY GROUND HOG 
THE UNDECIDED RATTLESNAKE 
THE QUARRELSOME MOLE 
THE WILD TURKEYS COME 
THE TRAVELLERS GO SOUTH . 
THE RUFFED GROUSE'S STORY 
A MILD DAY IN WINTER 



13 

21 

31 

39 
52 
62 

73 

83 

9 1 
100 

XI 3 
123 

*33 
144 

153 
163 

186 
198 
208 




jHrRED squirrel 

COMES TO LIVE IN 
THE FOREST /^^ 



Life in the forest is very 
different from life in the 
meadow, and the forest 
people have many ways of 
doing which are not known 
in the world outside. They 
are a quiet people and do 
not often talk or sing when 
there are strangers near. 
You could never get ac- 
quainted with them until 
you had learned to be quiet 
also, and to walk through 
the underbrush without 



& 



13 



14 Among the Forest People. 

snapping twigs at every step. Then, if 
you were to live among them and speak 
their language, you would find that there 
are many things about which it is not 
polite to talk. And there is a reason for 
all this. 

In the meadow, although they have 
their quarrels and their own troubles, 
they always make it up again and are 
friendly, but in the forest there are 
some people who can never get along 
well together, and who do not go to the 
same parties or call upon each other. It 
is not because they are cross, or selfish, 
or bad. It is just because of the way 
in which they have to live and hunt, and 
they cannot help it any more than you 
could help having eyes of a certain 
color. 

These are things which are all under- 
stood in the forest, and the people there 
are careful what they say and do, so they 
get on very well indeed, and have many 



Mr. Red Squirrel in the Forest. 15 

happy times in that quiet, dusky place. 
When people are born there, they learn 
these things without thinking about it, 
but when they come there from some 
other place it is very hard, for everybody 
thinks it stupid in strangers to ask about 
such simple matters. 

When Mr. Red Squirrel first came to 
the forest, he knew nothing of the way in 
which they do, and he afterward said that 
learning forest manners was even harder 
than running away from his old home. 
You see, Mr. Red Squirrel was born in 
the forest, but was carried away from 
there when he was only a baby. From 
that time until he was grown, he had 
never set claw upon a tree, and all he 
could see of the world he had seen by 
peeping through the bars of a cage. His 
cousins in the forest learned to frisk alone 
the fence-tops and to jump from one 
swaying branch to another, but when this 
poor little fellow longed for a scamper he 



1 6 Among the Forest People. 

could only run around and around in a 
wire wheel that hummed as it. turned, and 
this made him very dizzy. 

He used to wonder if there were noth- 
ing better in life, for he had been taken 
from his woodland home when he was too 
young to remember about it. One day 
he saw another Squirrel outside, a dainty 
little one who looked as though she 
had never a sad thought. That made 
him care more than ever to be free, and 
when he curled down in his cotton nest 
that night he dreamed about her, and 
that they were eating acorns together in 
a tall oak tree. 

The next day Mr. Red Squirrel pre- 
tended to be sick. He would not run in 
the wheel or taste the food in his cage. 
When his master came to look at him, he 
moaned pitifully and would not move one 
leg. His master thought that the leg 
was broken, and took limp little Mr. Red 
Squirrel in his hand to the window to see 



Mr. Red Squirrel in the Forest. 17 

what was the matter. The window was 
up, and when he saw his chance, Mr. Red 
Squirrel leaped into the open air and was 
away to the forest. His poor legs were 
weak from living in such a small cage, 
but how he ran! His heart thumped 
wildly under the soft fur of his chest, and 
his breath came in quick gasps, and still 
he ran, leaping, scrambling/ |and some- 
times falling, but always ngdfrer the great 
green trees of his birthplace. 

At last he was safe and sat trembling 
on the lowest branch of a beech-tree. 
The forest was a new world to him and 
he asked many questions of a fat, old 
Gray Squirrel. The Gray Squirrel was 
one of those people who know a great 
deal and think that they know a great, 
great deal, and want others to think so 
too. He was so very knowing and im- 
portant that, although he answered all of 
Mr. Red Squirrel's questions, he really 
did not tell him any of the things which 



1 8 Among the Forest People. 

he most wanted to know, and this is the 
way in which they talked : 

" What is the name of this place?" 
asked Mr. Red Squirrel. 

" This ? Why this is the forest, of 
course," answered the Gray Squirrel. 
"We have no other name for it. It is 
possible that there are other forests in 
the world, but they cannot be so fine as 
this, so we call ours 'the forest/' 

" Are there pleasant neighbors here?" 
asked Mr. Red Squirrel. 

"'Very good, very good. My wife and 
I do not call on many of them, but still 
they are good enough people, I think." 

" Then why don't you call ? " 

" Why ? Why ? Because they are not 
in our set. It would never do." And 
the Gray Squirrel sat up very straight 
indeed. 

" Who is that gliding fellow on the 
ground below ?" asked the newcomer. 
" Is he one of your friends ?" 



Mr. Red Squirrel in the Forest. 19 

11 That ? That is the Rattlesnake. We 
never speak to each other. There has 
always been trouble between our families." 

" Who lives in that hollow tree yonder ? " 

" Sh, sh ! That is where the Great 
Horned Owl has his home. He is 
asleep now and must not be awakened, 
for Squirrels and Owls cannot be friendly." 

" Why not ? " 

" Because. It has always been so." 

11 And who is that bird just laying an 
egg in her nest above us ? " 

" Speak softly, please. That is the 
Cowbird, and it is not her nest. You 
will get into trouble if you talk such 
things aloud. She can't help it. She has 
to lay her eggs in other birds' nests, but 
they don't like it." 

Mr. Red Squirrel tried very hard to 
find out the reason for this, but there are 
always some things for which no reason 
can be given ; and there are many ques- 
tions which can never be answered, even 



20 Among the Forest People. 

if one were to ask, "Why ? why? why?" 
all day long. So Mr. Red Squirrel, being 
a wise little fellow, stopped asking, and 
thought by using his eyes and ears he 
would in time learn all that he needed to 
know. He had good eyes and keen ears, 
and he learned very fast without making 
many mistakes. He had a very happy 
life among the forest people, and perhaps 
that was one reason. He learned not to 
say things which made his friends feel 
badly, and he did not ask needless ques- 
tions. And after all, you know, it would 
have been very foolish to ask questions 
which nobody could answer, and worse 
than foolish to ask about matters which 
he could find out for himself. 

It is in the forest as in the world out- 
side. We can know that many things 
are, but we never know why they are. 




WHY MS GREAT 
HORNED OWL 
HATCHED THE 
EGGS O O O O 



If the Rattlesnake is the king of the 
forest in the daytime, the Great Horned 
Owl is the king at night, Indeed, he is 
much the more powerful of the two, for 
he is king of air and earth alike and can 
go wherever he wishes, while the snake 
can only rule over those who live near the 
ground or who are so careless as to come 
to him there. 

There was but one pair of Great 



22 Among the Forest People. 

Horned Owls in the forest, and they 
lived in the deepest shade, having their 
great clumsy nest in the hollow of a tall 
tree. You might have walked past it a 
hundred times and never have guessed 
that any Owls lived there, if you did not 
notice the round pellets of bone and hair 
on the grass. They are such hungry fel- 
lows that they swallow their food with 
the bones in it. Then their tough little 
stomachs go to work, rolling all the pieces 
of bone and hair into balls and sending 
them back to be cast out of the Owls' 
mouths to the ground. 

The Great Horned Owl was a very 
large bird. His whole body was covered 
with brown, dull yellow, and white feath- 
ers. Even his feet and le^s were cov- 
*ered, and all that you could see besides 
were his black claws and his black hooked 
bill. Yes, at night you could see his 
eyes, too, and they were wonderful great 
eyes that could see in the dark, but they 



Mr. Great Horned Owl. 23 

were shut in the daytime when he was 
resting. His wife, who was the queen 
of the forest at night, looked exactly like 
him, only she was larger than he. And 
that is the way among Owls, — the wife is 
always larger than her husband. 

Every night when the sun had gone 
down, the Great Horned Owl and his 
wife would come out of their hollow tree 
and sit blinking on a branch near by, 
waiting until it got dark enough for them 
to see quite plainly. As the light faded, 
the little black spots in their eyes would 
grow bigger and bigger, and then off they 
would go on their great soft, noiseless 
wings, hunting in the grass and among 
the branches for the supper which they 
called breakfast. 

Mrs. Owl could not be gone very long 
at a time, for there were two large round 
white eggs in the nest which must not get 
cold. Her husband was on the wine 
most of the night, and he often flew home 



24 Among the Forest People. 

with some tender morsel for her. He 
was really a kind-hearted fellow, although 
you could never have made the small 
birds think so. Sometimes his wife would 
sigh and tell how tired she was of sitting 
still, and how glad she would be when the 
eggs were hatched and she could go more 
with him. When she began to speak of 
that, the Great Horned Owl would get 
ready for another flight and go off say- 
ing : "It is too bad. I am so sorry for 
you. But then, one would never have 
young Owlets if one did n't stick to the 
nest." He was always proud of his chil- 
dren, and he thought himself a very good 
husband. Perhaps he was ; still he had 
never taken his place on the nest while 
his wife went hunting. 

One night, after they had both been 
flying through forest and over field, he 
came back to the hollow tree to rest. He 
expected to find Mrs. Owl, for she 
had started home before he did. She 



Mr. Great Horned Owl 25 

was not there and he grew quite impa- 
tient. * 4 I should like to know what keeps 
her so long," he said, fretfully. After a 
while he looked into the nest and saw the 
two big white eggs. " It is a shame," he 
said. " Our beautiful eggs will be chilled, 
and it will be all her fault if we have no 
Owlets this summer." 

You see, even then he did not seem to 
think that he could do anything to keep 
them warm. But the next time he looked 
in, he put one feathered foot on the round 
eggs and was surprised to find how cool 
they were. 

It fairly made his head feathers stand 
on end to think of it, and he was so 
frightened that he forgot to be cross, and 
stepped right in and covered them with 
his own breast. What if they had already 
been left too long, and the Owlets within 
would never hatch ? Would Mrs. Owl 
ever forgive him for being so stupid ? 
He began to wonder if any of the other 



26 Among the Forest People. 

fellows would see him. He thought it 
so absurd for the king of the forest to be 
hatching out a couple of eggs, instead of 
swooping around in the dark and fright- 
ening the smaller birds. 

The night seemed so long, too. It 
had always been short enough before, 
and he had often disliked to have day- 
light come, for then he had to go to bed. 
He was very much upset, and it is no 
wonder that when he heard a doleful wail 
from a neighboring tree, and knew that 
his cousin, the Screech Owl, was near, 
he raised his head and called loudly, 
" Hoo-hoo-oooo ! Waugh-hoo ! " 

The Screech Owl heard him and flew 
at once to a branch beside the nest hol- 
low. He was a jolly little fellow in spite 
of his doleful call, and before he could 
talk at all he had to bend his body, look 
behind him, nod his head, and shake him- 
self, as Screech Owls always do when 
they alight. Then he looked into the 



Mr. Great Horned Owl. 27 

tree and saw his big cousin, the Great 
Horned Owl, the night king of the forest, 
sitting on the eggs and looking very, very 
grumpy. How he did laugh! " What 
is the matter?" said he. " Did n't you 
like your wife's way of brooding over the 
eggs ? Or did she get tired of staying 
at home and make you help tend the 
nest ? " 

" Matter enough," grumbled the Great 
Horned Owl. " We went hunting to- 
gether at twilight and she has n't come 
home yet. I did n't get into the nest 
until I had to, but it was growing very 
cold and I would n't miss having our eggs 
hatch for anything. Ugh-whoo ! How 
my legs do ache ! " 

" Well," said his cousin, "you are hav- 
ing a hard time. Are you hungry ?" 

The Great Horned Owl said that he 
was, so the Screech Owl went hunting 
and brought him food. " I will look in 
every night," he said, " and bring you a 



28 Among the Forest People. 

lunch. I 'm afraid something has hap- 
pened to your wife and that she will not 
be back." 

As he flew away he called out, " It is 
too bad. I am very sorry for you. But 
then, I suppose you would never have 
the Owlets if you did n't stick to the 
nest." 

This last remark made the Great Horned 
Owl quite angry. " Much he knows about 
it," he said. " I guess if he had ever tried 
it he would be a little more sorry for me." 
And then he began to think, " Who have 
I heard say those very words before ? 
Who ? Who ? Who ? " 

All at once the Great Horned Owl 
remembered how many times he had said 
just that to his patient wife, and he began 
to feel very uncomfortable. His ears 
tingled and he felt a queer hot feeling 
under his face feathers. Perhaps he 
had n't been acting very well after all ! 
He knew that even when he told her 



Mr. Great Horned Owl. 29 

he was sorry, he had been thinking she 
made a great fuss. Well, if she would 
only come back now, that should all be 
changed, and he shifted his weight and 
wriggled around into a more comfortable 
position. 

Now, if this were just a story, one 
could say that Mrs. Owl came back and 
that they were all happy together ; but 
the truth is she never did come, and 
nobody ever knew what became of her. 
So her husband, the night king of the 
forest, had to keep the eggs warm and 
rear his own Owlets. You can imagine 
how glad he was on the night when he 
first heard them tapping on the inside of 
their shells, for then he knew that he 
would soon be free to hunt. 

A finer pair of children were never 
hatched, and their father thought them far 
ahead of all his other broods. "If only 
Mrs. Owl were here to see them, how 
lovely it would be ! " he said. Yet if she 



30 Among the Forest People. 

had been there he would never have had 
the pleasure of hearing their first faint 
cheeps, and of covering them with his 
soft breast feathers as he did each day. 
He forgot now all the weary time when 
he sat with aching legs, wishing that his 
cousin would happen along with some- 
thing to eat. For that is always the way, — 
when we work for those we love, the 
weariness is soon forgotten and only 
happiness remains. 

It is said that the Screech Owl was 
more thoughtful of his wife after his 
cousin had to hatch the eggs, and it is 
too bad that some of the other forest 
people could not have learned the same 
lesson ; but the Great Horned Owl never 
told, and the Screech Owl kept his secret, 
and to this day there are many people in 
the forest who know nothing whatever 
about it. 




THE SWAGGERING CROW 



When the Crows 
who have been away 
for the winter return 
to the forest, all their 
relatives gather on the 
tree - tops to welcome 
them and tell the news. 
Those who have been 
away have also much to 
say, and it sometimes 
seems as though they 
were all talking at once. 
They spend many days 
in visiting before they 
begin nest-building. Perhaps if they would 

• 3* 




32 Among the Forest People. 

take turns and not interrupt each other, 
they would get the news more quickly, for 
when people are interrupted they can never 
talk well. Sometimes, too, one hungry 
fellow will fly off for a few mouthfuls of 
grain, and get back just in time to hear 
the end of a story. Then he will want to 
hear the first part of it, and make such a 
fuss that they have to tell it all over again 
just for him. 

At this time in the spring, you can hear 
their chatter and laughter, even when you 
are far away ; and the song-birds of the 
forest look at each other and say, " Dear 
me ! The Crows are back." They have 
very good reasons for disliking the Crows, 
as any Robin will tell you. 

There was one great shining black 
Crow who had the loudest voice of all, and 
who was not at all afraid to use it. This 
spring he looked very lean and lank, for it 
had been a long, cold winter, and he had 
found but little to eat, acorns, the seeds of 



The Swaggering Crow. 33 

the wild plants, and once in a great while 
a frozen apple that hung from its branch 
in some lonely orchard. 

He said that he felt as though he could 
reach around his body with one claw, and 
when a Crow says that he feels exceedingly 
thin. But now spring was here, and his 
sisters and his cousins and his aunts, yes, 
and his brothers and his uncles, too, had 
returned to the forest to live. He had 
found twQ good dinners already, all that 
he could eat and more too, and he began 
to feel happy and bold. The purple gloss 
on his feathers grew brighter every day, 
and he was glad to see this. He wanted 
to look so handsome that a certain Miss 
Crow, a -sister of one of his friends, would 
like him better than she did any of the 
others. 

That was all very well, if he had been 
at all polite about it. But one day he saw 
her visiting with another Crow, and he 
lost his temper, and flew at him, and pecked 



34 Among the Forest People. 

him about the head and shoulders, and tore 
the long fourth feather from one of his 
wings, besides rumpling the rest of his 
coat. Then he went away. He had 
beaten him by coming upon him from be- 
hind, like the sneak that he was, and he 
was afraid that if he waited he might yet 
get the drubbing he deserved. So he flew 
off to the top of a hemlock-tree where the 
other Crows were, and told them how he 
had fought and beaten. You should have 
seen him swagger around when he told it. 
Each time it was a bigger story, until at 
last he made them think that the other 
Crow had n't a tail feather left. 

The next day, a number of Crows went 
to a farm not far from the forest. Miss 
Crow was in the party. On their way 
they stopped in a field where there stood a 
figure of a man with a dreadful stick in 
his hand. Everybody was frightened except 
Mr. Crow. He wanted to show how much 
courage he had, so he flew right up to it. 



The Swaggering Crow. 35 

They all thought him very brave. They 
did n't know that down in his heart he was 
a great coward. He was n't afraid of this 
figure because he knew all about it. He 
had seen it put up the day before, and he 
knew that there was no man under the 
big straw hat and the flapping coat. He 
knew that, instead of a thinking, breath- 
ing person, there was only a stick nailed 
to a pole. He knew that, instead of hav- 
ing two good legs with which to run, this 
figure had only the end of a pole stuck 
into the ground. 

Of course, he might have told them all, 
and then they could have gathered corn 
from the broken ground around, but he 
didn't want to do that. Instead, he said, 
" Do you see that terrible great creature 
with a stick in his hand ? He is here just 
to drive us away, but he dares not touch 
me. He knows I would beat him if he 
did." Then he flew down, and ate corn 
close beside the figure, while the other 



36 Among the Forest People. 

Crows stood back and cawed with won- 
der. 

When he went back to them, he said to 
Miss Crow, " You see how brave I am. If 
I were taking care of anybody, nothing 
could ever harm her." And he looked 
tenderly at her with his little round eyes. 
But she pretended not to understand what 
he meant, for she did not wish to give up 
her pleasant life with the flock and begin 
nest-building just yet. 

When they reached the barn-yard, there 
was rich picking, and Mr. Crow made such 
a clatter that you would have thought he 
owned it all and that the others were only 
his guests. He flew down on the fence 
beside a couple of harmless Hens, and he 
flapped his wings and swaggered around 
until they began to sidle away. Then he 
grew bolder (you know bullies always do 
if they find that people are scared), and 
edged up to them until they fluttered off, 
squawking with alarm, 



The Swaggering Crow. $7 

Next he walked into the Hen-house, 
saying to the other Crows, " You might 
have a good time, too, if you were not such 
cowards." He had no more than gotten 
the words out of his bill, when the door of 
the Hen-house blew shut and caught there. 
It was a grated door and he scrambled 
wildly to get through the openings. While 
he was trying, he heard the hoarse voice 
of the Crow whom he had beaten the day 
before, saying, " Thank you, we are hav- 
ing a fairly good time as it is " ; and he 
saw Miss Crow picking daintily at some 
corn which the speaker had scratched up 
for her. 

At that minute the great Black Brahma 
Cock came up behind Mr. Crow. He had 
heard from the Hens how rude Mr. Crow 
had been, and he thought that as the head 
of the house he ought to see about it. 
Well ! one cannot say very much about 
what happened next, but the Black Brahma 
Cock did see about it quite thoroughly, 



38 Among the Forest People. 

and when the Hen-house door swung open, 
it was a limp, ragged, and meek-looking 
Crow who came out, leaving many of his 
feathers inside. 

The next morning Mr. Crow flew over 
the forest and far away. He did not want 
to go back there again. He heard voices 
as he passed a tall tree by the edge of the 
forest. Miss Crow was out with the Crow 
whom he had beaten, and they were look- 
ing for a good place in which to build. 
" I don't think they will know me if they 
see me," said Mr. Crow, " and I am sure 
that I don't want them to." 



THE RED-HEADED WOOD 
PECKER CHIEDREZV* 



Mrs. Red-headed 
Woodpecker bent 
her handsome head 
down and listened. 
" Yes, it is ! It cer- 
tainly is ! " she cried, 
as she heard for a 
second time the 
faint " tap-tap-tap " 
of a tiny beak rap- 
ping on the inside 
of an egg shell. She 
hopped to one side 
of her nest and 
stood looking at the 
four white eggs that 
lay there. Soon 
the rapping was 
heard again and she 
saw one of them 
move a bit on its 
bed of chips. 

39 




40 Among the Forest People. 

" So it is that one," she cried. " I 
thought it would be. I was certain that 
I laid that one first." And she arched 
her neck proudly, as the beak of her eld- 
est child came through a crack in the 
shell. Now nobody else could have told 
one egg from another, but mothers have 
a way of remembering such things, and it 
may be because they love their children 
so that sometimes their sight is a little 
sharper, and their hearing a little keener 
than anybody else's. 

However that may be, she stood watch- 
ing while the tiny bird chipped away the 
shell and squeezed out of the opening he 
had made. She did not even touch a 
piece of the shell until he was well out of 
it, for she knew that it is always better 
for children to help themselves when they 
can. It makes them strong and fits them 
for life. When the little Red-headed 
Woodpecker had struggled free, she took 
the broken pieces in her beak and carried 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 41 

them far. from the nest before dropping 
them to the ground. If she had done the 
easiest thing and let them fall by the foot 
of the hollow tree where she lived, any 
prowling Weasel or Blue Jay might have 
seen them and watched for a chance to 
reach her babies. And that would have 
been very sad for the babies. 

The newly hatched bird was a tired lit- 
tle fellow, and the first thing he did was 
to take a nap. He was cold, too, although 
the weather was fine and sunshiny. His 
down was all wet from the moisture inside 
the egg, and you can imagine how he 
felt, after growing for so long inside a 
warm, snug shell, to suddenly be without 
it and know that he could never again 
have it around him. Even if it had been 
whole once more, he could not have 
been packed into it, for he had been 
stretching and growing every minute since 
he left it. It is for this reason that the 
barn-yard people have a wise saying : " A 



42 Among the Forest People. 

hatched chicken never returns to his 
shell." 

When Mrs. Red-headed Woodpecker 
came back, she covered her shivering little 
one with her downy breast, and there he 
slept, while she watched for her husband's 
coming, and thought how pleased and 
proud he would be to see the baby. 
They were a young couple, and this was 
their first child. 

But who can tell what the other three 
children, who had not cracked the shell, 
were thinking ? Could they remember 
the time when they began to be ? Could 
they dream of what would happen after 
they were hatched ? Could they think at 
all ? They were tiny, weak creatures, 
curled up within their shells, with food 
packed all around them. There had been 
a time when they were only streaks in the 
yellow liquid of the eggs. Now they were 
almost ready to leave this for a fuller, 
freer life, where they could open their bills 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 43 

and flutter their wings, and stretch their 
legs and necks. It had been a quiet, 
sheltered time in the shell ; why should 
they leave it ? Ah, but they must leave 
it, for they were healthy and growing, 
and when they had done so, they would 
forget all about it. By the time they 
could talk, and that would be very soon, 
they would have forgotten all that hap- 
pened before they were hatched. That is 
why you can never get a bird to tell you 
what he thought about while in the egg. 

After the young Woodpecker's three 
sisters reached the outside world, the 
father and mother were kept busy hunt- 
ing food for them, and they were alone 
much of the time. It was not long before 
they knew their parents' voices, although, 
once in a while, before they got their eyes 
open, they mistook the call of the Tree 
Frog below for that of the Woodpeckers. 
And this was not strange, for each says, 
" Ker-r-ruck ! Ker-r-ruck ! " and when the 



44 Among the Forest People. 

Tree Frog was singing in his home at the 
foot of the tree, the four Woodpecker 
children, in their nest-hollow far above 
his head, would be opening their bills and 
stretching their necks, and wondering why 
no juicy and delicious morsel was dropped 
down their throats. 

When they had their eyes open there 
was much to be seen. At least, they 
thought so. Was there not the hollow 
in their dear, dry old tree, a hollow four 
or five times as high as they could reach ? 
Their mother had told them how their 
father and she had dug it out with their 
sharp, strong bills, making it roomy at 
the bottom, and leaving a doorway at 
the top just large enough for them to pass 
through. Part of the chips they had taken 
away, as the mother had taken the broken 
shells, and part had been left in the bot- 
tom of the hollow for the children to lie 
on. " I don't believe in grass, hair, 
and down, as a bed for children, " their 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 45 

father had said. " Nice soft chips are far 
better." 

And the Woodpecker children liked the 
chips, and played with them, and pretended 
that they were grubs to be caught with 
their long and bony tongues ; only of 
course they never swallowed them. 

It was an exciting time when their 
feathers began to grow. Until then they 
had been clothed in down ; but now the 
tiny quills came pricking through their 
skin, and it was not so pleasant to snuggle 
up to each other as it had once been. Now, 
too, the eldest of the family began to show 
a great fault. He was very vain. You 
can imagine how sorry his parents were. 

Every morning when he awakened he 
looked first of all at his feathers. Those 
on his breast were white, and he had a 
white band on his wings. His tail and 
back and nearly the whole of his wings 
were blue-black. His head, neck, and 
throat were crimson. To be sure, while 



46 Among the Forest People. 

the feathers were growing, the colors were 
not very bright, for the down was mixed 
with them, and the quills showed so 
plainly that the young birds looked rather 
streaked. 

The sisters were getting their new suits 
at the same time, and there was just as 
much reason why they should be vain, 
but they were not. They were glad (as 
who would not be ?) and they often said 
to each other : " How pretty you are grow- 
ing ! " They looked exactly like their 
brother, for it is not with the Woodpeck- 
ers as with many other birds, — the sons 
and daughters are dressed in precisely the 
same way. 

As for the vain young Woodpecker, he 
had many troubles. He was not contented 
to let his feathers grow as the grass and 
the leaves grow, without watching. No 
indeed ! He looked at each one every 
day and a great many times every day. 
Then, if he thought they were not grow- 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 47 

ing as fast as they should, he worried 
about it. He wanted to hurry them along, 
and sometimes, when his sisters did not 
seem to be looking, he took hold of them 
with his bill and pulled. Of course this 
did not make them grow any faster and it 
did make his skin very sore, but how was 
he to know ? He had not been out of the 
shell long enough to be wise. 

It troubled him, too, because he could 
not see his red feathers. He twisted his 
head this way and that, and strained his 
eyes until they ached, trying to see 
his own head and neck. It was very an- 
noying. He thought it would have been 
much nicer to have the brightest feathers 
in a fellow's tail, where he could see them, 
or at any rate on his breast ; and he asked 
his mother why it could n't be so. 

" I once knew a young Woodpecker," 
she said, "who thought of very little but 
his own beauty. I am afraid that if he had 
been allowed to wear his red feathers in 



48 Among the Forest People. 

his tail, he would never have seen any- 
thing else in this wonderful great world, 
but just his own poor little tail." She 
looked out of the doorway as she spoke, 
but he knew that she meant him. 

Things went on in this way until the 
children were ready to fly. Then there 
were daily lessons in flying, alighting, 
clinging to branches, and tapping for food 
on the bark of trees. They learned, too, 
how to support themselves with their stiff 
tails when they were walking up trees or 
stopping to eat with their claws hooked 
into the bark. Then Mrs. Red-headed 
Woodpecker taught them how to tell the 
ripest and sweetest fruit on the trees be- 
fore they tasted it. That is something 
many people would like to know, but it is 
a forest secret, and no bird will tell any- 
one who cannot fly. 

It was on his way back from an orchard 
one day, that the vain young Woodpecker 
stopped to talk with an old Gray Squirrel. 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 49 

It may be that the Gray Squirrel's sight 
was not good, and so he mistook the 
Woodpecker for quite another fellow. He 
was speaking of an old tree where he had 
spent the last winter. " I believe a family 
of Red-headed Woodpeckers live there 
now," he said. " I have met them once 
or twice. The father and mother are fine 
people, and they have charming daughters, 
but their son must be a great trial to them. 
He is one of these silly fellows w T ho see 
the world through their own feathers." 

As the young Red-headed Woodpecker 
flew away, he repeated this to himself : " A 
silly fellow, a silly fellow, who sees the 
world through his own feathers." And he 
said to his father, " Whose feathers must 
I look through ? " 

This puzzled his father. " Whose feath- 
ers should you look through ? " said he. 
" What do you mean ?" 

" Well," answered the son, " somebody 
said that I saw the world through my own 



50 Among the Forest People. 

feathers, and I don't see how I can get 
anybody else's." 

How his father did laugh ! " I don't 
see why you should look through any 
feathers," said he. " What he meant was 
that you thought so much of your own 
plumage that you did not care for any- 
thing else; and it is so. If it were in- 
tended you should look at yourself all the 
time, your eyes would have been one un- 
der your chin and the other in the back 
of your head. No ! They are placed 
right for you to look at other people, and 
are where they help you hunt for food." 

" How often may I look at my own 
feathers ? " asked the young Woodpecker. 
He was wondering at that minute how his 
tail looked, but he was determined not to 
turn his head. 

The old Woodpecker's eyes twinkled. 
" I should think," he said, " that since you 
are young and have no family to look after, 
you might preen your feathers in the 



Red-Headed Woodpecker Children. 51 

morning and in the afternoon and when 
you go to sleep. Then, of course, when it 
is stormy, you will have to take your 
waterproof out of the pocket under your 
tail, and put it on one feather at a time, 
as all birds do. That would be often 
enough unless something happened to 
rumple them." 

" I will not look at them any oftener," 
said the young Red-headed Woodpecker, 
firmly. " I will not be called a silly fellow." 
And he was as good as his word. 

His mother sighed when she heard of 
the change. " I am very glad," said she. 
" But isn't that always the way? His 
father and I have talked and talked, and 
it made no difference ; but let somebody 
else say he is silly and vain, and behold ! " 



THE NIGHT 
MOTH >VITH 
A CROOKED 
FEELER *a 






The beautiful, bril- 
liant Butterflies of the 
Meadow had many cou- 
sins living in the forest, 
most of whom were 
Night Moths. They 
also were very beauti- 
ful creatures, but they 
dressed in duller colors 
and did not have slender 
waists. Some of the 
Butterflies, you know, 
wear whole gowns of 
black and yellow, others 
have stripes of black and 
52 



The Night Moth. 53 

white, while some have clear yellow with 
only a bit of black trimming" the edges of 
the wings. 

The Moths usually wear brown and have 
it brightened with touches of buff or dull 
blue. If they do wear bright colors, it is 
only on the back pair of wings, and when 
the Moth alights, he slides his front pair 
of wings over these and covers all the 
brightness. They do not rest with their 
wings folded over their heads like the But- 
terflies, but leave them flat. All the day 
long, when the sun is shining, the 
Moths have to rest on trees and dead 
leaves. If they were dressed in yellow or 
red, any passing bird would see them, and 
there is no telling what might happen. 
As it is, their brown wings are so nearly 
the color of dead leaves or bark that you 
might often look right at them without 
seeing them. 

Yet even among Moths there are some 
more brightly colored than others, and 



54 Among the Forest People. 

when you find part of the family quietly 
dressed you can know it is because they 
have to lav the eggs. Moths are safer in 
dull colors, and the egg-layers should al- 
ways be the safest of all. If anything 
happened to them, you know, there would 
be no Caterpillar babies. 

One day a fine-looking Cecropia Moth 
came out of her chrysalis and clung to the 
nearest twig while her wings grew and 
dried and flattened. At first they had 
looked like tiny brown leaves all drenched 
with rain and wrinkled by somebody's 
stepping on them. The fur on her fat 
body was matted and wet, and even her 
feelers were damp and stuck to her head. 
Her six beautiful legs were weak and 
trembling, and she moved her body rest- 
lesslv while she tried again and again to 
raise her crumpled wings. 

She had not been there so very long be- 
fore she noticed another Cecropia Moth 
near her, clinging to the under side of a 



The Night Moth. 55 

leaf. He was also just out of the chrysalis 
and was drying himself. " Good morning ! " 
he cried. " I think I knew you when we 
were Caterpillars. Fine day to break the 
chrysalis, is n't it ? " 

" Lovely, 5 ' she answered. " I remem- 
ber you very well. You were the Cater- 
pillar who showed me where to find food 
last summer when the hot weather had 
withered so many of the plants." 

" I thought you would recall me," he 
said. " And when we were spinning our 
chrysalides we visited together. Do you 
remember that also ? " 

Miss Cecropia did. She had been think- 
ing of that when she first spoke, but she 
hoped he had forgotten. To tell the truth, 
he had been rather fond of her the fall 
before, and she, thinking him the hand- 
somest Caterpillar of her acquaintance, 
had smiled upon him and suggested that 
they spin their cocoons near together. 
During the long winter she had regretted 



56 Among the Forest People. 

this. " I was very foolish," she thought, 
" to encourage him. When I get my wings 
I may meet people who are better off than 
he. Now I shall have to be polite to him 
for the sake of old friendship. I only hope 
that he will make other acquaintances and 
leave me free. I must get into the best 
society." 

All this time her neighbor was thinking, 
" I am so glad to see her again, so glad, 
so glad ! When my wings are dry I will 
fly over to her and we will go through the 
forest together." He was a kind, warm- 
hearted fellow, who cared more for friend- 
ship than for beauty or family. 

Meanwhile their wings were growing 
fast, and drying, and flattening, so that by 
noon they could begin to raise them above 
their heads. They were very large Moths 
and their wings were of a soft dust color 
with little clear, transparent places in them 
and touches of the most beautiful blue, 
quite the shade worn by the Peacock, who 



The Night Moth. 57 

lived on the farm. There was a brown 
and white border to their wings, and on 
their bodies and legs the fur was white 
and dark orange. When the Cecropias 
rest, they spread their wings out flat, and 
do not slide the front pair over the others 
as their cousins, the Sphinxes, do. The 
most wonderful of all, though, are their 
feelers. 

The Butterflies have stiff feelers on their 
heads with little knobs on the ends, or 
sometimes with part of them thick like 
tiny clubs. The Night Moths have many 
kinds of feelers, most of them being curved, 
and those of the Cecropias look like red- 
dish-brown feathers pointed at the end. 

Miss Cecropia's feelers were perfect, and 
she waved them happily to and fro. Those 
of her friend, she was troubled to see, were 
not what they should have been. One of 
them was all right, the other was small 
and crooked. " Oh dear,'' she said to her- 
self, "how that does look! I hope he 



58 Among the Forest People. 

will not try to be attentive to me," He 
did not mind it much. He thought about 
other things than looks. 

As night came, a Polyphemus Moth 
fluttered past. " Good evening ! " cried 
he. " Are you just out ? There are a lot 
of Cecropias coming out to-day." 

Miss Cecropia felt quite agitated when 
she heard this, and wondered if she looked 
all right. Her friend flew over to her just 
as she raised her wings for flight. " Let 
me go with you," he said. 

While she was wondering how she could 
answer him, several other Cecropias came 
along. They were all more brightly col- 
ered than she. " Hullo!" cried one of 
them, as he alighted beside her. " First- 
rate night, is n't it ? " 

He was a handsome fellow, and his feel- 
ers were perfect ; but Miss Cecropia did 
not like his ways, and she drew away from 
him just as her friend knocked him off the 
branch, While they were fighting, an- 



The Night Moth. 59 

other of the strangers flew to her. " May 
I sit here ? " he asked. 

"Yes," she murmured, thinking her 
chance had come to get into society. 

" I must say that it served the fellow 
right for his rudeness to you," said the 
stranger, in his sweetest way ; " but who 
is the Moth who is punishing him — that 
queer-looking one with a crooked feeler ? " 

" Sir," said she, moving farther from 
him, "he is a friend of mine, and I do 
not think it matters to you if he is queer- 
looking." 

" Oh ! " said the stranger. " Oh ! oh ! 
oh ! You have a bad temper, have n't you ? 
But you are very good-looking in spite of 
that." There is no telling what he would 
have said next, for at this minute Miss 
Cecropia's friend heard the mean things 
he was saying, and flew against him. 

It was not long before this stranger also 
was punished, and then the Moth with the 
crooked feeler turned to the others. " Do 



60 Among the Forest People. 

any of you want to try it ? " he said. " You 
must understand that you cannot be rude 
before her." And he pointed his right 
fore leg at Miss Cecropia as she sat 
trembling on the branch. 

"Her!" they cried mockingly, as they 
flew away. " There are prettier Moths 
than she. We don't care anything for 
her." 

Miss Crecropia's friend would have gone 
after them to punish them for this impo- 
liteness, but she clung to him and begged 
him not to. " You will be killed, I know 
you will," she sobbed. " And then what 
will become of me ? " 

" Would you miss me ? " he asked, as 
he felt of one of his wings, now broken 
and bare. 

" Yes," she cried. " You are the best 
friend I have. Please don't go." 

" But I am such a homely fellow," he 
said. " I don't see how you can like me 
since I broke my wing." 



The Night Moth. 61 

" Well, I do like you," she said. " Your 
wing is n't much broken after all, and I 
like your crooked feeler. It is so differ- 
ent from anybody else's." Miss Cecro- 
pia looked very happy as she spoke, and 
she quite forgot how she once decided 
to go away from him. There are some 
people, you know, who can change their 
minds in such a sweet and easy way that 
we almost love them the better for it. One 
certainly could love Miss Cecropia for 
this, because it showed that she had 
learned to care more for a warm heart 
and courage than for whole wings and 
straight feelers. 

Mr. Cecropia did not live long after this, 
unfortunately, but they were very, very 
happy together, and she often said to her 
friends, as she laid her eggs in the best 
places, " I only hope that when my Cater- 
pillar babies are grown and have come out 
of their chrysalides, they may be as good 
and as brave as their father was." 




THE BEES AM) 

THE KINGBIRD 



There was in the forest 

a great hollow tree where 

for years a swarm of Bees 

had made their home. 

To look at it in winter, 

one would never guess 

what a store of honey 

was sealed up within, but 

in summer the Bees were 

always passing in and out, 

and it was indeed a busy 

place. Then the Workers 

had to gather honey and 

build the cells and look 
62 



The Bees and the Kingbird. 63 

out for the Queen-Mothers many babies. 
The Queen-Mother had so much care of 
her eggs that she could really do nothing 
but attend to them. After they were ready 
in their cells, the Workers took care of 
them, and tucked in a lot of bread for 
the babies to eat when they were hatched. 
Then there was the bread-making to be 
done also, and all the Workers helped 
bring the pollen, or flower-dust, out of 
which it was made. 

The Drones did n't do anything, not 
a thing, not a single thing, unless it were 
taking care of the Queen when she flew 
away from the tree. They had done that 
once, but it was long ago, before she had 
laid an egg and while she was still quite 
young. They were handsome great fel- 
lows, all black and gold, and if you did n't 
know about them, you might have thought 
them the pleasantest Bees in the tree. 
Of course you would not care for them 
after finding how lazy they were, for 



64 Among the Forest People. 

people are never liked just because they 
are fine-looking. 

The Drones always found some excuse 
for being idle, and like many other lazy 
people they wanted the busy ones to 
stop and visit with them. " What is the 
hurry ? " they would say. " There will be 
more honey that you can get to-morrow. 
Stop a while now." 

But the Workers would shake their 
brown heads and buzz impatiently as 
they answered, " We can get to-morrow's 
honey when to-morrow comes, but to- 
day's honey must be gathered to-day." 

Then the Drones would grumble and 
say that they did n't see the sense of 
storing up so much honey anyway. That 
also was like lazy people the world over, 
for however much they scold about get- 
ting the food, they are sure to eat just 
as much as anybody else. Sometimes 
lazy people eat even more than others, 
and pick for the best too. 



The Bees and the Kingbird. 65 

On cloudy days, the Workers did stay 
at home in the tree, but not to play. 
They clung to the walls and to each 
other and made wax. It took much 
patience to make wax. When they were 
gathering honey there was so much that 
was interesting to be seen, and so many 
friends to meet, that it was really quite 
exciting ; but when they made wax they 
had to hang for a long, long time, until 
the wax gathered in flakes over their 
bodies. Then it was ready to scrape off 
and shape into six-sided cells to hold 
honey or to be homes for the babies. 

One sunshiny morning the Queen- 
Mother stopped laying her eggs and cried : 
" Listen ! did you hear that ?" 

" What ? " asked the Workers, crowding 
around her. 

" Why, that noise," she said. " It 
sounded like a bird calling 4 Kyrie ! K-y- 
rie ! ' and I thought I heard a Worker 
buzzing outside a minute ago, but no one 



66 Among the Forest People. 

has come in. I am afraid — " and here 
she stopped. 

"Of what are you afraid!" asked the 
Drones, who, having nothing to do but 
eat and sleep, were always ready to talk 
about anything and everything. The 
great trouble with them was that if you 
once began to talk they did not like to 
have you leave and go to work. 

"Why," said the Queen-Mother, "I 
don't want to alarm you, but I thought 
it was a Kingbird." 

" Well, what if it was ? " said a big 
Drone. " There is only one of him and 
there are a great many of us." 

"Yes," said the Queen-Mother, "but 
there may not be so many of us very long 
if he begins to watch the tree. I have 
lived much longer than you and I know 
how Kingbirds act." 

This was true, for Queens live to be 
very old, and Drones never live long be- 
cause they are so lazy. 



The Bees and the Kingbird. 67 

"Well," said the big Drone, "we must 
find out about this. Just fly around and 
see if it is a Kingbird," he said to a 
Worker. " We must know about things 
before we act." 

" Suppose you should go," she replied. 
" I have my leg-pockets full of pollen, and 
it ought to be made into bread at once. 
I never saw Larvae so hungry as these 
last ones are." 

" I only wish that I could go," said the 
big Drone, limping as he got out of her 
w r ay ; " but my fifth foot just stepped on 
my third foot, and I can hardly move." 

When he said this, all the Workers 
smiled, and even the Queen-Mother had 
to turn away her head. The Drones 
looked as solemn as possible. It would 
not do for them to laugh at their brother. 
They did not want him to laugh at them 
when they made excuses for staying at 
home. They even pretended not to hear 
one of the Workers when she said that it 



68 Among the Forest People. 

was funny how some people could n't use 
their wings if one of their feet hurt them. 

" Yes," said another Worker, " and it is 
funny, too, how some people can get along 
very well on three legs when they have 
to, while others are too helpless to do any- 
thing unless they can use the whole six." 

The Drones began to talk together. 
" I think that the whole swarm should fly 
at the Kingbird and sting him and drive 
him away," said one. " There is no sense 
in allowing him to perch outside our home 
and catch us as we pass in and out. / say 
that we should make war upon him ! " He 
looked very fierce as he spoke, buzzing 
and twitching his feelers at every step. 

" Exactly ! " cried another Drone. " If 
I had a sting, I would lead the attack. 
As it is, I may be useful in guarding the 
comb. It is a great pity that Drones 
have no stings." You would have thought, 
to hear him speak, that if he had been 
given a sting like those of the Workers, 



The Bees and the Kingbird. 69 

not all the Bees in the tree could keep 
him from fighting. 

While the Drones were talking about 
war, some of the Workers sent to their 
Queen for advice. " Tell us," they said, 
" how to drive away the Kingbird. Should 
we try to sting him ? You know it kills a 
Bee to sting anybody, and we don't want 
to if we can help it, yet we will if you say 
so. 

The Queen-Mother shook her head. 
"You must not bother me about such 
things," she said. " I have all that I can 
do to get the eggs ready, and you must 
look after the swarm. Nobody else can 
do my work, and I have no time to do 
yours." As she spoke, she finished the 
one hundred and seventeenth egg of that 
day's lot, and before night came she 
would probably have laid more than a 
thousand, so you can see she was quite 
right when she said she had no time for 
other things. 



70 Among the Forest People. 

This left the Workers to plan for them- 
selves, and they agreed that a number of 
them should fly out together and see 
where the Kingbird was. Then they 
could decide about attacking him later. 
When one gave the signal, they dashed 
out as nearly together as possible. 

After the Workers returned with honey 
and pollen, the Drones crowded around 
them, asking questions. " Where is he? 
What does he look like ? Did he try to 
catch you ? " The Workers would not an- 
swer them, and said : " Go and find out for 
yourself. We all came back alive." 
Then they went about their work as 
usual. 

" I don't see how they dared to go," 
said a very young Bee who was just out 
of her cocoon and was still too weak to 
fly. 

" Pooh ! " said the big Drone. " You 
would n't see me hanging around this tree 
if I were not lame." 



The Bees and the Kingbird. 71 

" There is no use in stopping work even 
if you are scared/' said one of the Work- 
ers. She smiled as she spoke, and whis- 
pered something to the Queen-Mother as 
she passed her. The Queen-Mother 
smiled also. 

" Why don't you Drones go for honey ? " 
she said. " You must be getting very 
hungry/' 

" We don't feel very well/' they an- 
swered. " Perhaps it would be better for 
our health if w r e were to keep quiet for a 
while and save our strength. We will 
lunch off some of the honey in the comb 
if we need food." 

" Not a bit of it ! " exclaimed the Work- 
ers. " Stay in the tree if you want to for 
your health, but don't you dare touch the 
honey we have gathered for winter, when 
the day is clear and bright like this." And 
whenever a Drone tried to get food from 
the comb they drove him away. 

The poor Drones had a hard day of it, 



72 Among the Forest People. 

and at night they were so hungry they 
could hardly sleep. The next morning they 
peeped out, and then rushed away to the 
flowers for their breakfast. They stayed 
out all day, and when they returned at night 
they rushed swiftly into the tree again. 

" There ! " they said ; " we escaped the 
Kingbird." 

" What Kingbird?" asked a Worker. 

" The one who was there yesterday," 
answered the Drones. " Has he been 
back to-day ? " 

" There was no Kingbird near the tree 
yesterday," said the Worker. 

" What ! " cried the Drones. 

" No," said the Queen-Mother, " I was 
mistaken when I thought I heard him. 
The Workers told me after they had been 
out for honey. Perhaps they forgot to 
tell you." 

But her eyes twinkled as she spoke, and 
all the Workers smiled, and for some rea- 
son the Drones did not know what to say. 




On the edge of the for- 
est next to the meadow, 
a pair of young Gold- 
finches were about to be- 
gin housekeeping. They 
were a handsome couple, 
and the birds who were 
already nesting near by 
were much pleased to see 
them tree-hunting there. 

Mr. Goldfinch was a 
fine, cheerful little fellow, 
every feather of whose 
black and yellow coat was always well oiled 

73 




74 Among the Forest People. 

and lying in its proper place. His wife was 
dressed in a dull, greenish brown with 
a touch of yellow on her breast. " Bright 
yellow and black does very well for Mr. 
Goldfinch/' she would say, " but for one 
who has to sit on the nest as long as I 
shall have to, it would never do. People 
would see me anions the leaves and know 
just where to find my eggs." 

Mr. Goldfinch thought that there was 
never a bird who had a prettier, dearer, 
or harder-working little wife than he, 
and he would wonder how he was ever 
happy before he knew her. That is a 
way that people have of forgetting the 
days that are past ; and the truth is that 
Mr. Goldfinch had made fun of the 
Robins and other birds all spring, be- 
cause they had to build nests and hunt 
worms for their babies, while he had 
nothing to do but sing and sleep and 
feed himself. In those days the Robins 
used to call after him as he flew away, 



The Story of the CowbircTs Egg. 75 

"Silly fellow! Silly fellow! Silly!" They 
knew that there is something sweeter in 
life than just taking good care of one's 
self. 

One afternoon Mr. Goldfinch saw a 
tiny green-brown bird on a sweetbriar 
bush, and as he watched her he thought 
her the most beautiful creature he had 
ever seen. She had such a dainty way 
of picking out the seeds, and gave such 
graceful hops from one twig to another. 
Then Mr. Goldfinch fluffed up his feathers 
and swelled out his throat and sang her 
such songs as he had never sung before. 
He did not want her to speak to any- 
body else, and yet he could not help her 
doing so, for Goldfinches always go to- 
gether in crowds until they have homes 
of their own, and at this time they were 
having concerts every morning. He 
showed her where the finest dandelion , 
seeds could be found, and one bright and 
sunshiny day she became Mrs. Goldfinch, 



j6 Among the Forest People. 

and they went together to find a place 
for their home. 

They began one nest and had it nearly 
done, when Mr. Goldfinch said it was not 
in a good place, and tore it all to pieces. 
Mrs. Goldfinch felt very badly about this 
and talked it over with some of her Gold- 
finch neighbors. They told her not to 
mind it at all, that their husbands often 
did the same thing, and that sometimes 
they came to like the new place much 
better than the old. At any rate, there 
was no use in getting cross about it, 
because that was something she would 
have to expect. 

Mr. Goldfinch was sure that they had 
built too near the ground, and he had 
chosen a crotch above. Toward this 
he was dragging the bits of grape-vine 
and cedar-bark which were woven into 
their first nest. He said they could also 
use some of the grasses and mosses which 
they had gotten together, and he even 



The Story of the Cowbird's Egg. jj 

told his wife of some fine thistle-down 
which he could bring for the inside, where 
the eggs were to be laid. Mrs. Gold- 
finch watched him tugging with bill and 
both feet to loosen the bits of bark, and 
she said to herself : " Dear fellow ! what 
a helper he is ! I won't mind rebuilding 
if it makes him happy," and she went to 
work" with a will. 

When the sun went down in the west 
the next night the second nest was done, 
and it was the last thing at which the 
Goldfinches looked before tucking their 
heads under their wings and going to 
sleep. It was the first thing that they 
saw the next morning, too, and they 
hopped all around it and twittered with 
pride, and gave it little tweaks here and 
little pokes there before they flew away 
to get breakfast. 

While they were gone, Mrs. Cowbird 
came walking over the grass and dry leaves 
to the foot of the tree. She wagged her 



78 Among the Forest People. 

head at every step, and put on as many 
airs as though she were showily dressed, 
instead of wearing, as she always does, a 
robe of dull brownish gray. She had seen 
the Goldfinches fly away, and she was look- 
ing for their home. She was a lazy crea- 
ture in spite of her stirring ways, and she 
wished to find a nice little nest in which to 
lay an egg. You know Cowbirds never 
think of building nests. They want all 
of their time to take care of themselves, 
which is a very foolish way of living ; but 
then, you could never make a Cowbird 
think so ! 

" That nest is exactly right," said Mrs. 
Cowbird. " I will lay my egg there at once, 
and when Mrs. Goldfinch has laid hers 
she will have to hatch them all together 
and take care of my baby for me. What 
an easy way this is to bring up one's fam- 
ily ! It is really no work at all ! And I 
am sure that my children will get along 
well, because I am always careful to choose 



The Story of the CowbircTs Egg. 79 

the nests of small birds for them. Then 
they are larger and stronger than the other 
babies, and can get more than their share 
of food." 

So she laid a big white egg with gray 
and brown spots on it in the Goldfinches' 
new home, and then she flew off to the 
Cowbird flock, as gay and careless as you 
please. When the Goldfinches came back, 
they saw the egg in their nest and called 
all their neighbors to talk it over. " What 
shall I ever do ? " said Mrs. Goldfinch. " I 
wanted my nest for my own eggs, and I 
meant to lay them to-morrow. I suppose 
I shall have to sit on this one too, but it 
won't be at all comfortable." 

"I wouldn't," said one of her neigh- 
bors, a Yellow Warbler. " I left my nest 
once when such a thing happened to me, 
and built a new one for my own eggs." 

"Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Goldfinch, "we 
have built two already, and I cannot build 
another." 



80 Among the Forest People. 

" Well, whatever you do," said a Vireo, 
" don't hatch the big ^gg out with your 
own. I did once, and such a time as I 
had ! The young Cowbird pushed two of 
my little Vireos out onto the ground, and 
ate so much that I was quite worn out by 
the work of hunting for him." 

" My dear," said Mr. Goldfinch, " I have 
an excellent plan. We will put another 
floor in our nest, right over this Qgg y and 
then by adding a bit all around the sides 
we can have plenty of room for our 
own children. It will be much less work 
than beginning all over again, and then 
the Cowbird's egg will be too cool to 
hatch." 

Everybody called this a most clever 
plan, and Mr. Goldfinch was very proud 
to have thought of it. They went to work 
once more, and it was not so very long 
before the new floor was done and the 
new walls raised. Then, oh, wonder of 
wonders ! there were soon four tiny, pearly 



The Story of the CowbircTs Egg. 81 

eggs of their own lying on the thistle-down 
lining of the nest. 

Mrs. Goldfinch had to stay very closely 
at home now, but her husband went off 
with his friends a great deal. He bathed 
and sang and preened his feathers and 
talked about his queer nest and his bright 
little wife, after the manner of Goldfinches 
everywhere. 

His friends laughed at him for helping 
so much about the nest, for, you know, 
Goldfinches do not often help their wives 
about home. He cocked his handsome 
head on one side and answered : " My wife 
seemed to need me then. She is not so 
very strong. And I do not know what 
she would ever have done about the strange 
egg, if I had not been there to advise her." 

When he got back to his home that 
night, Mrs. Goldfinch said : " I have been 
wondering why we did not roll the Cow- 
bird's egg out on the ground, instead of go- 
ing to all that trouble of building around it." 



82 Among the Forest People. 

And Mr. Goldfinch declared that he be- 
lieved she was the only bird who had ever 
thought of such a thing. " It could have 
been done just as well as not," he said. 
" I must tell that to the other birds in the 
morning. How lucky I am to have such 
a bright wife ! It would be dreadful if 
such a clever fellow as I had a dull mate ! " 







Mrs. MOURNINC'lDOVE'S 
HOUSEKEEPING, 



Strange as it may seem, there had never 
been any Mourning Doves in the forest un- 
til this year, and when a pair came there 
to live, the people were much excited. 
They talked about the Doves' song, so 
sweet and sad, and about their soft coats 
of brown and gray, and they wondered 
very much what kind of home they would 
build. Would it be a swinging pocket of 
hairs, strings, and down, like that of the 
Orioles ? Would it be stout and heavy 
like the. nests of the Robins ? Or would 
. 83 



84 Among the Forest People. 

it be a ball of leaves and grasses on the 
ground, with a tiny doorway in one side, 
like that of the Ovenbird ? 

You can see that the forest people were 
really very much interested in the Mourn- 
ing Doves, and so, perhaps, it is not 
strange that, when the new couple built 
their nest in the lower branches of a 
spruce tree, everybody watched it and 
talked about it. 

" Really," said one of the Blackbirds, 
who had flown over from the swamp near 
by, " I never should think of calling that 
thing a nest ! It is nothing but a few 
twigs and sticks laid together. It is just 
as flat as a maple-leaf, and what is to keep 
those poor little Doves from tumbling to 
the ground I can't see." 

" I would n't worry about the little 
Doves yet," said a Warbler. " I don't 
think there will ever be any little Doves 
in that nest. The eggs will roll off of it 
long before they are ready to hatch, and 



Mrs. Mourning Dove. 85 

the nest will blow to pieces in the first 
storm we have." 

"Well," said the Blackbird, as she 
started for home, " I shall want to know 
how the Mourning Doves get on. If any 
of you are over my way, stop and tell me 
the news." 

Some days after this, a Quail, passing 
under the Doves' home, happened to look 
up and see two white eggs in the nest. It 
was so very thin that she could see them 
quite plainly through the openings be- 
tween the twigs. Later in the day, she 
spoke of this to a Grouse, saying, " I came 
by the Mourning Doves' nest and saw two 
white eggs through the bottom." 

After she went away, the Grouse said to 
a wild Rabbit : " The Quail told me that 
the Mourning Dove's eggs went right 
through the bottom of her nest, and I 
don't wonder. It wasn't strong enough 
to hold anything." 

At sunset, the Rabbit had a short visit 



86 Among the Forest People. 

with Mrs. Goldfinch, as she pulled a great 
thistle-head to pieces and made her sup- 
per from its seeds. He told her he had 
heard that the Mourning- Dove's eggs had 
fallen through the bottom of the nest and 
broken on the ground, and Mrs. Goldfinch 
said : " Oh, that poor Mrs. Mourning 
Dove ! I must go to see her in the morn- 
ing." Then she fled home to her own 
four pearly treasures. 

Now, of course the Rabbit was mistaken 
when he said anybody had told him that 
those two eggs were broken ; just as much 
mistaken as the Grouse was when she said 
somebody had told her that the eggs had 
fallen. They both thought they were right, 
but they were careless listeners and care- 
less talkers, and so each one had changed 
it a bit in the telling. 

The next day it rained, and the next, 
and the next. Mrs. Goldfinch did not 
dare leave her nest to make calls, lest the 
cold raindrops should chill and hurt the 



Mrs. Mourning Dove. 87 

four tiny birds that lay curled up in their 
shells. At last the weather was warm and 
sunshiny, and Mrs. Goldfinch and some of 
her bird neighbors went to call on Mrs. 
Mourning Dove. They found her just 
coming from a wheat-field, where she had 
been to get grain. " Oh, you poor crea- 
ture !" they cried. "We have heard all 
about it. Your poor babies ! How sorry 
we are for you ! " 

Mrs. Mourning Dove looked from one 
to another as though she did not know 
what to make of it. " What do you mean ? " 
she cooed. " My babies are well and do- 
ing finely. Won't you come to see 
them ? " 

Then it was the turn of the other birds 
to be surprised. "Why," they chirped, 
"we heard that your eggs had fallen 
through your nest and had broken and 
killed the tiny Dove babies inside. Is it 
true?" 

"Not a word of it," answered Mrs, 



88 Among the Forest People. 

Mourning Dove. "The nest is all right, 
and the eggs were not broken until my 
two little darlings broke them with their 
sharp beaks." 

" Here they are," she added, fondly. 
"Did you ever see such pretty ones? 
See him open his bill, the dear ! And 
did you ever see such a neck as she has ? 
Mr. Mourning Dove thinks there never 
were such children." 

" But do you feel perfectly safe to 
leave them in that nest ? " asked the 
Oriole politely. " My babies are so 
restless that I should be afraid to trust 
them in it." 

"That is what people always say," an- 
swered Mrs. Mourning Dove, with a 
happy coo, "and I fear that I am a rather 
poor housekeeper, but it runs in our fam- 
ily. Mr. Mourning Dove and I have 
raised many pairs of children, and they 
never rolled out, or tumbled through, or 
blew away, and I do not worry about 



Mrs. Mourning Dove. 89 

these. I shall never be thrifty like you 
good builders, perhaps, but I 'm sure you 
cannot love your little ones any more 
than I do mine. It was very kind of you 
to be so sorry for me when you heard I 
was in trouble. I think I have the best 
neighbors in the world." 

When her callers went away, they could 
not say enough about Mrs. Mourning 
Dove's pleasant ways, and her gentle, 
well-behaved children. " It is too bad 
she is such a poor nest-maker," the Vireo 
said, " and I understand now what she 
meant when she told me that they some- 
times used old Robins' nests for their 
young. She said they flattened them out 
and added a few twigs, and that they did 
finely. I thought it very queer in them 
to do so, but perhaps if I had not been a 
good builder I should have done the same 
thing." 

" Perhaps we all would," the others 
agreed. " She certainly is a very pleasant 



go Among the Forest People. 

bird,- and she is bringing up her children 
well Mr. Mourning Dove seems to think 
her perfect. We won't worry any more 
about her." 



^ : "£ '• 



THE "YOUNG 
BIvUB JAY 
WHO WAS 
NOT BRAVE 
ENOUGH TO 
BE AFRAID 



Everybody who 
is acquainted with 
the Blue Jays 
knows that they 
are a* very brave 
family. That is 
the best thing that 
you can say about 
them. To be 
sure, they dress 
very handsomely, 
and there is no 
prettier sight, on 



91 



92 Among the Forest People. 

a fine winter morning, than a flock of 
Blue Jays flitting from branch to branch, 
dining off the acorns on the oak trees, and 
cocking their crested heads on one side 
as they look over the country. They are 
great talkers then, and are always telling 
each other just what to do ; yet none of 
them ever do what they are told to, so 
they might just as well stop giving advice. 
The other people of the forest do not 
like the Blue Jays at all, and if one of 
them gets into trouble they will not help 
him out. This always has been so, and it 
always will be so. If it could be winter all 
the time, the Blue Jays could be liked well 
enough, for in cold weather they eat seeds 
and nuts and do not quarrel so much with 
others. It is in the summer that they 
become bad neighbors. Then they live 
in the thickest part of the woods and raise 
families of tiny, fuzzy babies in their great 
coarse nests. It is then, too, that they 
change their beautiful coats, and while 



The Young Blue Jay. 93 

the old feathers are dropping off and the 
new ones are growing they are not at all 
pretty. Oh, then is the time to beware 
of the Blue Jays ! 

They do very little talking during the 
summer, and the forest people do not 
know when they are coming, unless they 
see a flutter of blue wings among the 
branches. The Blue Jays have a reason 
for keeping still then. They are doing 
sly things, and they do not want to be 
found out. 

The wee babies grow fast and their 
mouths are always open for more food. 
Father and Mother Blue Jay spend all 
their time in marketing, and they are not 
content with seeds and berries. They visit 
the nests of their bird neighbors, and then 
something very sad happens. When the 
Blue Jays go to a nest there may be four 
eggs in it ; but when they go away there 
will not be any left, nothing but pieces of 
broken egg-shell. It is very, very sad, 



94 Among the Forest People. 

but this is another of the things which 
will always be so, and all that the other 
birds can do is to watch and drive the 
Jays away. 

There was once a young Blue Jay in 
the forest who was larger than his broth- 
ers and sisters, and kept crowding them 
toward the edge of the nest. When their 
father came with a bit of food for them, 
he would stretch his legs and flutter his 
wings and reach up for the first bite. 
And because he was the largest and the 
strongest, he usually got it. Sometimes, 
too, the first bite was so big that there 
was nothing left for anyone else to bite 
at. He was a very greedy fellow, and he 
had no right to take more than his share, 
just because he happened to be the first 
of the family to break open the shell, or 
because he grew fast. 

This same young Blue Jay used to 
brag about what he would do when he 
got out of the nest, and his mother told 



The Young Blue Jay. 95 

him that he would get into trouble if he 
were not careful. She said that even 
Blue Jays had to look out for danger. 

" Huh ! " said the young Blue Jay ; 
" who 's afraid ? " 

" Now you talk like a bully," said 
Mother Blue Jay, " for people who are 
really brave are always willing to be 
careful." 

But the young Blue Jay only crowded 
his brothers ^and sisters more than usual, 
and thought, inside his foolish little pin- 
feathery head, that when he got a chance, 
he 'd show them what courage was. 

After a while his chance came. All the 
small birds had learned to flutter from 
branch to branch, and to hop quite briskly 
over the ground. One afternoon they 
went to a part of the forest where the 
ground was damp and all was strange. 
The father and mother told their children 
to keep close together and they would 
take care of them ; but the foolish young 



96 Among the Forest People. 

Blue Jay wanted a chance to go alone, 
so he hid behind a tree until the others 
were far ahead, and then he started off 
another way. It was great fun for a 
time, and when the feathered folk looked 
down at him he raised his crest higher 
than ever and thought how he would 
scare them when he was a little older. 

The young Blue Jay was just thinking 
about this when he saw something long 
and shining lying in the pathway ahead. 
He remembered what his father had said 
about snakes, and about one kind that 
wore rattles on their tails. He wondered 
if this one had a rattle, and he made up 
his mind to see how it was fastened 
on. " I am a Blue Jay," he said to 
himself, " and I was never yet afraid of 
anything." 

The Rattlesnake, for it was he, raised 
his head to look at the bird. The young 
Blue Jay saw that his eyes were very 
bright. He looked right into them, and 



The Young Blue Jay. 97 

could see little pictures of himself upon 
their shining surfaces. He stood still to 
look, and the Rattlesnake came nearer. 
Then the young Blue Jay tried to see his 
tail, but he could n't look away from the 
Rattlesnake's eyes, though he tried ever 
so hard. 

The Rattlesnake now coiled up his 
body, flattened out his head, and showed 
his teeth, while all the time his queer 
forked tongue ran in and out of ,his 
mouth. Then the young Blue Jay tried 
to move and found that he could n't. 
All he could do was to stand there and 
watch those glowing eyes and listen to 
the song which the Rattlesnake began 
to sing : 

" Through grass and fern, 
With many a turn, 

My shining body I draw. 
In woodland shade 
My home is made, 

For this is the Forest Law. 



98 Among the Forest People. 

" Whoever tries 
To look in my eyes 

Comes near to my poisoned jaw ; 
And birds o'erbold 
I charm and hold, 

For this is the Forest Law." 

The Rattlesnake drew nearer and 
nearer, and the young Blue Jay was shak- 
ing with fright, when there was a rustle 
of wings, and his father and mother flew 
down and around the Rattlesnake, scream- 
ing loudly to all the other Jays, and mak- 
ing the Snake turn away from the helpless 
little bird he had been about to strike. 
It was a long time before the forest was 
quiet again, and when it was, the Blue 
Jay family were safely in their nest, and 
the Rattlesnake had gone home without 
his supper. 

After the young Blue Jay got over his 
fright, he began to complain because he 
had not seen the Rattlesnake's tail. Then, 
indeed, his patient mother gave him such 



The Young Blue Jay. 99 

a scolding as he had never had in all his 
life, and his father said that he deserved 
a sound pecking for his foolishness. 

When the young Blue Jay showed that 
he was sorry for all the trouble that he 
had made, his parents let him have some 
supper and go to bed ; but not until he 
had learned two sayings which he was al- 
ways to remember. And these were the 
sayings : " A really brave bird dares to be 
afraid of some things," and, " If you go 
near enough to see the tail of a danger, 
you may be struck by its head." 



THE RED SQUIRRELS 
BEGIN HOUSEKEEPING 



The first thing 
that Mr. Red Squir- 
rel did after coming 
to the forest and 
meeting the Gray 
Squirrel was to look 
for something to 
eat. It was not a 
good season for a 
stranger who had 
no hidden store of 
nuts and seeds to 
draw upon. The 
apples and corn 
were not ripe, and 
last year's seeds 
and acorns were 
nearly gone. What 
few remained here 
and there had lost 
their sweet and 




100 



The Red Squirrels. 101 

wholesome taste. Poor Mr. Red Squirrel 
began to wish that he had eaten breakfast 
before he ran away. He even went to the 
edge of the forest and looked over toward 
the farmhouse, where his open cage hung 
in the sunshine. He knew that there were 
nuts and a fresh bit of fruit inside of it, 
and his mouth watered at the thought of 
them, but he was a sensible young fellow, 
and he knew that if he went back to eat, 
the cage door would be snapped shut, and 
he would never again be free to scamper 
in the beautiful trees. 

" I will starve first !" he said to himself, 
and he was so much in earnest that he 
spoke quite loudly. 

The words were hardly out of his 
mouth when "Pft!" a fat acorn came 
down at his feet. He caught it up with 
his forepaws before looking around. It 
was smooth and glossy, not at all as 
though it had passed a long winter on an 
oak branch. He took a eood nibble at it 



102 Among the Forest People. 

and then looked up to see if there were 
more on the tree above him. You can 
think how surprised he was to find him- 
self sitting beneath a maple, for in all the 
years since the world began no maple has 
ever borne acorns. 

"There are no more to come," he said. 
" I must take small bites and make it last 
as long as I can." And he turned it 
around and around, clutching it tightly 
with his long, crooked claws, so that not 
the tiniest bit could be lost. At last it 
was all eaten, not a crumb was left, and 
then " Pft !" down came a walnut. This 
hit him squarely on the back, but he was 
too hungry to mind, and he ate it all, just 
stopping long enough to say : " If this 
maple bears such fruit as acorns and wal- 
nuts, I should like to live in a maple grove." 

Next came a hazelnut, then a butter- 
nut, and last of all a fat kernel of yellow 
corn. He knew now that some friend 
was hidden in the branches above, so he 



The Red Squirrels. 103 

tucked the corn in one of his cheek-pock- 
ets, and scampered up the maple trunk to 
find out who it was. He saw a whisking 
reddish-brown tail, and knew that some 
other Red Squirrel was there. But who- 
ever it was did not mean to be caught, 
and such a chase as he had ! Just as he 
thought he had overtaken his unknown 
friend, he could see nothing more of her, 
and he was almost vexed to think how 
careless he must have been to miss her. 
He ran up and down the tree on which he 
last saw her, and found a little hollow in 
one of its large branches. He looked in, 
and there she was, the same dainty crea- 
ture whom he had so often watched from 
his cage. He could see that she was 
breathless from running so fast, yet she 
pretended to be surprised at seeing him. 
Perhaps she now thought that she had 
been too bold in giving him food, and so 
wanted him to think that it had been 
somebody else. 



104 Among the Forest People. 

"Good morning !" -said he. " Thank 
you very much for your kindness." 

" What do you mean?" said she. 

"As though you didn't know!" he an- 
swered. " I never heard of a maple tree 
that bore acorns, nuts, and corn, and that 
in the springtime." 

" Oh, well," said she, tossing her pretty 
head, "you have lived in a cage and may 
not know what our forest trees can do." 

That was a rather saucy thing to say, 
but Mr. Red Squirrel knew her kind 
heart and that she said it only in mischief. 
"How do you know I have lived in a 
cage ? " he asked. 

" I — I thought you looked like the 
Squirrel at the farmhouse," she said ; and 
then forgetting herself, she added, " You 
did look so surprised when that walnut 
hit you." 

"Where were you then?" he asked 
quickly. 

" Oh ! I was on a branch above 



The Red Squirrels. 105 

you," she answered, seeing that he now 
knew all about it. " You looked so 
hungry, and I had plenty of food stored 
away. You may have some whenever you 
wish. It must have been dreadful in that 
cage." 

Now Mr. Red Squirrel had loved his 
little friend ever since the first time he 
saw her on the rail fence, but he had never 
thought she would care for him — a tired, 
discouraged fellow, who had passed such 
a sorrowful life in prison. Yet when he 
heard her pitying words, and saw the light 
in her tender eyes, he wondered if he 
could win her for his wife. 

" I shall never be able to do anything 
for you," said he. " You are young and 
beautiful and know the forest ways. I 
am a stranger and saddened by my hard 
life. I wish I could help you." 

"The Blue Jays! The Blue Jays!" 
she cried, starting up. " They have found 
my hidden acorns and are eating them." 



106 Among the Forest People. 

And sure enough, a pair of those hand- 
some robbers were pulling acorn after 
acorn out of a tree-hollow near by, and 
eating them as fast as they could. Yoti 
should have seen Mr. Red Squirrel then ! 
He leaped from branch to branch until he 
reached the Blue Jays ; then he stood by 
the hole where the acorns were stored, 
and scolded them. " Chickaree-chicka- 
ree-quilch-quilch-chickaree-chickaree ! " he 
said ; and that in the Red Squirrel lan- 
guage is a very severe scolding. He 
jumped about with his head down and 
his tail jerking, while his eyes gleamed 
like coals of fire. The Blue Jays made a 
great fuss and called " Jay ! Jay ! " at him, 
and made fun of him for being a stranger, 
but they left at last, and Mr. Red Squirrel 
turned to his friend. 

" What would I have done without 
your help ? " she said. " I was so dread- 
fully frightened. Don't you see how my 
paws are shaking still ? " And she held 



The Red Squirrels. 107 

out the prettiest little paws imaginable for 
him to see. 

Then Mr. Red Squirrel's heart began 
to thump very fast and hard beneath the 
white fur of his chest, and he sighed 
softly. " I wish I might always help 
you and protect you," he said ; " but I 
suppose there are better fellows than 
I who want to do that." And he sighed 
again. 

" Yes, they might want to," she said, 
looking away from him and acting as 
though she saw another Blue Jay coming. 

" You would n't be my little wife, would 
you ? " he asked, coming nearer to her. 

" Why — I — might ! " she answered, with 
a saucy flirt of her tail, and she scampered 
away as fast as she could. Do you think 
Mr. Red Squirrel stopped then to eat his 
fat kernel of yellow corn ? Or do you 
think he waited to see whether the Blue 
Jays were around ? No, indeed ! He 
followed as fast as his legs could carry 



108 Among the Forest People. 

him from tree to tree, from branch to 
branch, and it was not until he had reached 
the top of a tall beech that he overtook 
his little sweetheart. They were still there 
when the Gray Squirrel happened along 
in the afternoon. 

"Ah!" said he, squinting at Mr. Red 
Squirrel, for his eyes were poor. " You 
are getting acquainted, are you ? Pleas- 
ant society here. The Squirrel set is very 
select. You must meet some of our young 
people. Suppose you will begin house- 
keeping one of these days ? " 

" I have done so already, sir/' answered 
Mr. Red Squirrel, although his wife was 
nudging him with one paw and motion- 
ing him to keep quiet. " Mrs. Red Squir- 
rel and I will build our round home in 
the top fork of this tree. We shall be 
pleased to have you call when we are 
settled." 

" Is that so?" exclaimed the Gray 
Squirrel. " I did not know that you were 



The Red Squirrels. 109 

married. I thought you came alone to 
the forest." 

" This is my wife, sir," said Mr. Red 
Squirrel, and the Gray Squirrel made his 
very best bow and looked at her as sharply 
as his poor eyes would let him. 

11 1 think I must have seen you some- 
where," he said ; " your face is very famil- 
iar." And he scratched his poor old 
puzzled head with one claw. 

" Why, Cousin Gray Squirrel, don't you 
know Bushy-tail ? " she cried. " You 
lived the next tree to mine all winter." 

" To be sure ! " he exclaimed. " But 
is n't your marriage rather sudden ? " 

" No," she said, blushing under her 
fur. " We have always liked each other, 
although we never spoke until this morn- 
ing. I used to scamper along the rail 
fence to see Mr. Red Squirrel in his 
cage." 

" Did you truly come for that ? " asked 
her husband, after their caller had gone. 



no Among the Forest People. 

" I truly did," she answered, " but I 
never expected anybody to know it. You 
poor fellow ! I felt so sorry for you. I 
would have given every nut I had to set 
you free." 

They were a very happy couple, and the 
next fall the Gray Squirrel watched them 
and their children gathering nuts for their 
winter stores. Mr. Red Squirrel, as the 
head of the family, planned the work, yet 
each did his share. The nuts were not 
yet ripe, and they gnawed off the stems, 
then came to the ground, filled their cheek- 
pockets with the fallen nuts, and scam- 
pered off to hide them in many places. 
They were stored in tree-hollows, under 
the rustling leaves which strewed the 
ground, in the cracks of old logs, beneath 
brush-heaps, and in holes in the ground. 

" Don't stop to think how many you 
need," said the little mother to her chil- 
dren. " Get every nut you can. It may 
be a very long winter." 



The Red Squirrels. 1 1 1 

" And if you don't eat them all," said 
their hard-working father with a twinkle 
in his eyes, "you may want to drop a few 
down to some poor fellow who has none. 
That was your mother's way." 

" When was it her way? What makes 
you smile when you say it ? Mother, 
what does he mean ? " cried the young 
Red Squirrels all in a breath. 

" I gave some nuts to a hungry Squirrel 
once," she said, " and he was so grateful 
that he drove the Blue Jays away when 
they tried to rob me." But she looked 
so happy as she spoke that the children 
knew there was more to the story. They 
dared not tease her to tell, so they whis- 
pered among themselves and wondered 
what their father meant. 

As they gathered nuts near the Gray 
Squirrel, he motioned them to come close. 
"S-sh!" said he. "Don't tell it from 
me, but I think the poor hungry fellow 
was your father, and it was a lucky thing 



H2 Among the Forest People. 

for you that she had enough to give 
away." 

" Do you suppose that was it?" the 
young Red Squirrels whispered to each 
other. " Do you really suppose so ?" 





LITTLE RABBIT 
LEARNS TO SEE 



Seven little Rabbits 
lay on their nest at the 
bottom of the burrow, 
and wriggled and 
squirmed and pushed 
their soft noses against 
each other all day long. 
Life was very easy for 
them, and they were 
contented. The first 
thing that they remem- 
bered was lying on their bed of fur, hay, 
and dried leaves, and feeling a great, 

113 



H4 Among the Forest People. 

warm, soft Something close beside them. 
After a while they learned that this Some- 
thing was their Mamma Rabbit. It was 
she who had gotten the nest ready for 
them and lined it with fur that she tore 
from her own breast. She did n't care 
so much about looking beautiful as she 
did about making her babies comfortable. 
It was their Mamma Rabbit, too, who 
fed them with warm milk from her own 
body until they should be old enough to 
go out of the burrow. Then they would 
nibble bark and tender young shoots 
from the roots of the trees, and all the 
fresh, green, growing things that Rabbits 
like. She used to tell them about this 
food, and they wondered and wondered 
how it would taste. They began to feel 
very big and strong now. The soft fur 
was growing on their naked little bodies 
and covering even the soles of their feet. 
It was growing inside their cheeks, too, 
and that made them feel important, for 



Biggest Little Rabbit Learns to See. 115 

Papa Rabbit said that he did not know 
any other animals that had fur inside 
their cheeks. He said it was something 
to be very proud of, so they were very 
proud, although why one should want fur 
inside of one's cheeks it would be hard 
to say. 

What tangles they did get into ! Each 
little Rabbit had four legs, two short ones 
in front, and two long ones behind to 
help him take long jumps from one place 
to another. So, you see, there were 
twenty-eight legs there, pushing, catching 
in the hay, kicking, and sometimes just 
waving in the air when their tiny owners 
chanced to roll over on their backs and 
could n't get right side up again. Then 
Mamma Rabbit would come and poke 
them this way and that, never hurting 
any of them, but getting the nest in 
order. 

" It is a great deal of work to pick up 
after children," she would say with a tired 



1 1 6 Among the Forest People. 

little sigh, " but it will not be long before 
they have homes of their own and are 
doing the same thing." 

Mamma Rabbit was quite right when 
she said that, for all of their people set 
up housekeeping when very young, and 
then the cares of life begin. 

One fine morning when the children 
were alone in their burrow, the biggest 
little Rabbit had a queer feeling in his 
face, below and in front of his long ears, 
and above his eager little nose. It al- 
most scared him at first, for he had never 
before felt anything at all like it. Then he 
guessed what it meant. There were two 
bunchy places on his face, that Mamma 
Rabbit had told him were eyes. " When 
you are older," she had said to him, 
" these eyes will open, and then you will 
see." For the Rabbit children are always 
blind when they are babies. 

When his mother told him that, the 
biggest little Rabbit had said, " What do 



Biggest Little Rabbit Learns to See. 1 1 7 

you mean when you say I shall ' see ' ? Is 
it anything like eating ?" 

And Mamma Rabbit said, " No, you 
cannot taste things until you touch them, 
but you can see them when they are far 
away." 

." Then it is like smelling," said the 
biggest little Rabbit. 

" No, it is not like smelling, either, for 
there are many things, like stones, which 
one cannot smell and yet can see." 

" Then it surely is like hearing," said 
the biggest little Rabbit. 

" Oh dear ! " exclaimed his mother, who 
was tired of having questions asked which 
could not be answered. " It is not a bit 
like hearing. You could never hear a 
black cloud coming across the sky, but 
you could see it if you were outside your 
burrow. Nobody can make you under- 
stand what seeing is until your eyes are 
open, and then you will find out for your- 
self without asking." 



1 1 8 Among the Forest People. 

This made the biggest little Rabbit lie 
still for a while, and then he said : " What 
is a black cloud, and why does it come 
across the sky ? And what is the sky, and 
why does it let the cloud come ? And 
what is — " But he did not get any an- 
swer, for his mother ran out of the bur- 
row as fast as she could. 

And now his eyes were surely opening 
and he should see ! His tiny heart thumped 
hard with excitement, and he rubbed his 
face with his forepaws to make his eyes 
open faster. Ah ! There it was ; some- 
thing round and bright at the other end 
of the burrow, and some queer, slender 
things were w r aving across it. He won- 
dered if it were good to eat, but he dared 
not crawl toward it to see. He did not 
know that the round, bright thing was 
just a bit of sky which he saw through the 
end of the burrow, and that the slender, 
waving ones were the branches of a dead 
tree tossing in the wind. Then he looked 



Biggest Little Rabbit Learns to See. 119 

at his brothers and sisters as they lay be- 
side him. He would not have known 
what they were if he had not felt of them ■ 
at the same time. 

" I can see ! " he cried. " I can see 
everything that there is to see ! I 'm 
ahead of you ! Don't you wish that you 
could see, too ? " 

That was not a very kind thing to say, 
but in a minute more his brothers and sis- 
ters had reason to be glad that they 
could n't see. Even while he was speak- 
ing and looking toward the light, he saw 
a brown head with two round eyes look in 
at him, and then a great creature that he 
thought must surely be a dog ran in to- 
ward him. How frightened he was then ! 
He pushed his nose in among his blind 
brothers and sisters and tried to hide him- 
self among them. He thought something 
dreadful was about to happen. 

" I wish Mamma Rabbit would come," 
he squeaked, shutting his eyes as closely 



120 Among the Forest People. 

as he could. " I wish Mamma Rabbit 
would come/' 

" Why, here I am," she answered. 
" What are you afraid of ? " 

The biggest little Rabbit opened his 
eyes, and there was the creature who had 
frightened him so, and it was his own 
mother ! You can imagine how glad she 
was to see that one of her children had 
his eyes open. 

" I will call in some of my Rabbit 
friends," she said, "and let you see them, 
if you will promise not to be afraid." 

The next day four of the other little 
Rabbits had their eyes open, and the day 
after that they all could see each other 
and the shining piece of sky at the end of 
the burrow. It was not so very long af- 
terward that the Rabbit family went out 
to dine in the forest, and this was the 
first time that the children had seen their 
father. Often when their mother left 
them alone in the burrow she had pulled 



Biggest Little Rabbit Learns to See. 121 

grass and leaves over the opening to hide 
it from him, for Rabbit fathers do not love 
their children until they are old enough 
to go out into the great world, and it 
would never do for them to know where 
their babies are kept. Then their father 
taught them how to gnaw tough bark to 
wear their teeth down, for Rabbits' teeth 
grow all the time, and if they were to eat 
only soft food, their teeth would get too 
long. He taught them, too, how to move 
their ears in the right way for keen hearing, 
and told them that when chased they must 
run for the burrow or the nearest thicket. 
" Then crouch down on some leaves that 
are the color of your fur," he said, " and 
you may not be seen at all." 

" Why should we run ? " said the biggest 
little Rabbit. 

" Because you might be caught if you 
did n't." 

" What might catch us?" asked the 
biggest little Rabbit. 



122 Among the Forest People. 

" Oh, a Hawk, perhaps, or a Weasel." 
" What does a Hawk look like ? " 
" Like a great bird floating in the sky/' 
said Papa Rabbit. " Now, don't ask me 
a single question more." 

" Does a Hawk look like that bird 
above us ? " asked the biggest little 
Rabbit. 

His father gave one look upward. 
"Yes!" he said. " Run!" 

And just as the Hawk swooped down 
toward the ground, he saw nine white- 
tipped tails disappear into a burrow near 
by. 




THE LITTLE BAT WHO 
WOULDN'T GO TO BED 



"Come," said Mamma 
Bat, flying toward her 
home in the cave, " it is 
time that you children 
went to bed. The east- 
ern sky is growing bright, 
and I can see the fleecy 
clouds blush rosy red as 
the sun looks at them." 

The little Bats flitted 

along after her, and Papa 

Bat came behind them. 

They had been flying 

through the starlit forest 

123 




124 Among the Forest People. 

all night, chasing the many small insects 
that come out after the sun has gone 
down, and passing in and out of the tan- 
gled branches without ever touching one. 
Indeed, Mamma Bat would have been 
ashamed if children of hers flew against 
anything in the dark. There might be 
some excuse for such a mistake in the 
daytime, for Bats' eyes do not see well 
then, but in the night-time ! She would 
have scolded them well, and they would 
have deserved it, for Bats have the most 
wonderful way of feeling things before 
they touch them, and there are no other 
people in the forest who can do that. 
There are no other people who can tell 
by the feeling of the air when something 
is near, and the Bats made much fun of 
their friend, the Screech Owl, once, when 
he flew against a tree and fell to the ground. 
And now the night was over and their 
mother had called them to go home. One 
of the little Bats hung back with a very 



The Bat who Would n't Go to Bed. 1 25 

cross look on his face, and twice his father 
had to tell him to fly faster. He was 
thinking how he would like to see the for- 
est in the daytime. He had never seen 
the sun rise, and he wanted to do that. 
He had never seen any of the day-birds 
or the animals that awaken in the morn- 
ing. He thought it was pretty mean to 
make poor little Bats go off to bed the 
minute the stars began to fade. He 
did n't believe what his father and mother 
said, that he would n't have a good time 
if he did stay up. He had coaxed and 
coaxed and teased and teased, but it 
had n't made a bit of difference. Every 
morning he had to fold his wings and go 
to sleep in a dark crack in the rock of the 
cave, hanging, head downward, close to 
the rest of the family. Their father said 
that there never was a better place to 
sleep than in this same crack, and it cer- 
tainly was easy to catch on with the hooks 
at the lower ends of their wings when they 



126 Among the Forest People. 

hung themselves up for the day. But now 
he just would n't go to bed, so there ! 

" It is your turn next," said Mamma 
Bat to him, when the rest of the children 
had hung themselves up. 

" I 'm not going to bed," the little Bat 
answered. 

" Not going to bed ! " said his father. 
" Are you crazy ?" 

" No," said the little Bat, " I m not". 

" I don't believe the child is well," said 
Mamma Bat. " He never acted like this 
before. I 'm afraid he has overeaten." 
And she looked very anxious. 

" I am well, and I have rit eaten too 
much," said the little Bat. " I think you 
might let a fellow have some fun once in 
a while. I 've never seen the sun in my 
life, and there are whole lots of birds and 
animals in the forest that I 've only heard 
about." 

Papa and Mamma Bat looked at each 
other without speaking. 



The Bat who Would n't Go to Bed. 1 2 7 

" I wont go to bed ! " said the little 
Bat. 

" Very well/' said his father. " I shall 
not try to make you. Fly away at once 
and let us go to sleep." 

After he had gone, Mamma Bat said, 
" I suppose you did right to let him go, 
but it seems too bad that children have to 
find out for themselves the trouble that 
comes from disobedience." 

The little Bat flew away feeling very 
brave. He guessed he knew how to take 
care of himself, even in daylight. He felt 
sorry for his brothers who were in the 
cave, but he made up his mind that he 
would tell them all about it the next 
night. 

The eastern sky grew brighter and 
brighter. It hurt his eyes to look at it, 
and he blinked and turned away. Then 
the song-birds awakened and began to 
sing. It was very interesting, but he 
thought they sang too loudly. The forest 



128 Among the Forest People. 

at night is a quiet place, and he did n't 
see the sense of shouting so, even if the 
sun were coming up. The night-birds 
never made such a fuss over the moon, 
and he guessed the moon was as good as 
the sun. 

Somebody went scampering over the 
grass, kicking up his heels as he ran. 
" That must be a Rabbit," thought the 
little Bat. "The Screech Owl told me 
that Rabbits run in that way. I wish I 
could see him more plainly. I don't 
know what is the matter with my eyes." 

Just then a sunbeam came slanting 
through the forest and fell on his furry 
coat as he clung to a branch. " Ow ! " he 
cried. " Ow ! How warm it is ! I don't 
like that. The moonbeams do not feel 
so. I must fly to a shady corner." He 
started to fly. Just what was the matter, 
he never knew. It may have been be- 
cause he could n't see well, it may have 
been because he was getting very tired, 



The Bat who Would n't Go to Bed. 129 

or it may have been because the strange- 
ness of it all was beginning to frighten 
him ; but at all events, he went down, 
down, down until he found himself pitch- 
ing and tumbling around in the grass. 

A Crow had seen him fall, and cried 
loudly, " Come ! Come ! Come ! " to his 
friends. The Rabbits, who were feeding 
near by, came scampering along, making 
great leaps in their haste to see what was 
the matter. The Goldfinches, the Rob- 
ins, the Orioles, the Woodpeckers, and 
many other birds came fluttering up. 
Even a Blue Jay sat on a branch above 
the Bat and shrieked, "Jay! Jay! Jay!" 
to add to the excitement. And last of all, 
the Ground Hog appeared, coming slowly 
and with dignity, as a person who can re- 
member his grandfather should do. 

" What is the cause of all this commo- 
tion?" he asked. He might have said, 
"What is the matter?" and then they 
would have understood him at once, but 



130 Among the Forest People. 

he was too haughty for that. He thought 
he had to use big words once in a while 
to show that he could. If people did n't 
understand them, he was willing to ex- 
plain what he meant. 

" We 've found such a queer bird, sir/' 
said the biggest little Rabbit, without 
waiting to find out what a " commotion " 
was. " Just see him tumble around ! " 

" Bird ? That is no bird," said a Wood- 
pecker. " Look at his ears and his nose. 
He has n't even a bill." 

" Well, he flies," said the biggest little 
Rabbit, " because I saw him, so he must 
be a bird." 

" Humph ! " said a Chipmunk. " So 
does my cousin, the Flying Squirrel, in a 
way, yet he is no more bird than I am." 

" And this fellow has n't a feather to 
his skin ! " cried an Oriole. 

" I don't say that my son is right," 
said Papa Rabbit, " but this creature 
has wings." And he gave the Bat a 



The Bat who Would n't Go to Bed. 131 

poke that made him flutter wildly for a 
minute. 

4i Yes, but what kind of wings ?" asked 
the Goldfinch. " A pair of skinny things 
that grow on to his legs and have hooks 
on both ends." 

" He must be a very stupid fellow, at 
all events/' said the Ground Hog. "-He 
does n't talk, or walk, or eat, or even fly 
well. He must come of a very common 
family. For my part, I am not interested 
in persons of that kind." And he walked 
away with his nose in the air. 

Now the other forest people would have 
liked to watch the Bat longer, but after 
the Ground Hog had gone off in this 
way, they thought it would show too 
much curiosity if they stayed. So one 
after another went away, and the little 
Bat was left alone. He fluttered around 
until he reached the branch where the 
Blue Jay had been, and there he hung 
himself up to wait until night. 



132 Among the Forest People. 

" Oh dear!" he said, "I wonder how 
long a day is. I am hot and blind and 
sleepy, and if any more of the forest peo- 
ple come and talk about me, I don't know 
what I shall do. They don't think me 
good-looking because my wings grow to 
my legs. I only wish I could see what 
they look like. I believe they are just as 
homely." 

And then, because he was a very tired 
little Bat, and cross, as people always are 
when they have done wrong, he began to 
blame somebody else for all his trouble. 

" If my father and mother had cared 
/ery much about me," he said, " they 
would never have let me stay up all day. 
Guess if I were a big Bat and had little 
Bats of my own, I 'd take better care of 
them 1 " But that is always the way, and 
when, long afterw r ard, he was a big Bat 
with little Bats of his own, he was a much 
wiser person. 








THE BEE TREE 



The old Bee tree 
was becoming very 
crowded and the Queen- 
Mother grew restless. 
There were many things 
to make her so. In the 
tree were thousands of 
cells made ready for her 
eggs, and she had been 
busy for days putting 
one in each. .In the 
larger cells she laid eggs 
that would hatch out 
Drones, and in the 
smaller ones she laid 




133 



134 Among the Forest People. 

Worker eggs. She never laid any Queen 
eggs. Perhaps she did not want any 
Queens among her children, for there can 
never be two Queens in one swarm, and 
when a new one is hatched, the Queen- 
Mother has to go away and find another 
home. That is a law among the Bees. 

The Workers, however, knew that there 
must be young Queens growing up all the 
time. Supposing something should hap- 
pen to the Queen-Mother, what would 
become of the swarm if there were nobody 
to lay eggs ? So after she had laid sev- 
eral thousand Worker eggs, and it was 
time for the young ones to hatch, they 
decided to change some of the babies 
into young Queens. And this was easy 
enough. When they were out for honey, 
they filled the pockets on their hind legs 
with pollen, the yellow dust that is found 
in flowers. This was to be mixed with 
honey and water and made into bread for 
the babies, who were now awake, and 



A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree. 135 

looked like tiny white worms in the bot- 
tom of their cells. Then they made some 
that was almost like sour jelly, and put it 
in a few of the Worker cells for the tiny 
white worms, or Larvae, to eat. The 
Larvae that eat this jelly grow up to be 
Queens, and can lay eggs. Those that eat 
the common bread are either Drones or 
Workers, whichever their mother had 
planned them to be. 

After the Larvae were five or six days 
old, the Workers shut them up in their 
cells and stopped feeding them. That 
was because the Larvae had other things 
to do than eat. They had to spin their 
cocoons, and lie in them until they were 
grown and ready to come out among the 
older Bees. When a Larva, or Bee baby, 
has finished its cocoon, and is lying inside, 
it is called a Pupa, and when a Pupa is 
full grown and has torn its way out of the 
cocoon and wax, it is called a Drone, 
or a Worker, or a Queen. 



136 Among the Forest People. 

Now the Queen-Mother was restless. 
She could hear the young Queens piping 
in their cells, and she knew that they 
wanted to come out and drive her away. 
She wanted to get to them and stop their 
piping, but the Workers stood in her way 
and prevented her. They knew it would 
not be well for the Queen-Mother to meet 
her royal children, and when these chil- 
dren tried to come out the Workers cov- 
ered the doors of their cells with another 
layer of wax, leaving little holes where 
they could put out their tongues and be 
fed. 

This made the Queen-Mother more 
restless than ever. " If I cannot do as I 
wish to with my own children," she said, 
'- I will leave the tree." And she began 
walking back and forth as fast as she 
could, and talked a great deal, and acted 
almost wild with impatience. The Work- 
ers saw- how she felt, and part of them de- 
cided to go with her. When a Worker 



A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree. 137 

made up her mind to go with the Queen- 
Mother, she showed it by also acting wild 
and walking back and forth, and talking a 
great deal, sometimes fluttering her wings 
very fast. Then she would go for honey, 
because when Bees are about to swarm 
they fill their honey-pockets just as full 
as they can. At times the Queen-Mother 
would be quiet, and you might almost 
think that she had given up going. Then 
suddenly she would grow restless again, 
and all the Workers who were going with 
her would act as she did, and they would 
get so warm with excitement that the air 
in the tree became quite hot. 

At last the Queen-Mother thought it 
time to start, and her followers came 
around her in the tree, and were very still 
for a minute. Several of the Workers 
had been flying in circles around the tree, 
and now they came to the doorway and 
called. Then all came out, and hovered 
in the air a few minutes before stopping- 



138 Among the Forest People. 

to rest on a bush near by. When they 
rested, the first Bee held on to the bush, 
the next Bee held on to her, and that was 
the way they did until they were all cling- 
ing tightly together in a squirming, dark- 
brown mass. 

Ah, then the Queen-Mother was hap- 
py ! She felt that she was young again, 
and she thought, " How they love me, 
these dear Workers ! " She stroked her 
body with her legs to make herself as fine 
as possible, and she noticed, with pleasure, 
how slender she was growing. " I had 
thought I should never fly again/ ' she 
said, " yet this is delightful. I believe I 
will go off by myself for a little while." 

So she flew off by herself and was talk- 
ing rather airily to a Butterfly when two 
of the Workers came after her. 

" You may return to the rest," she said 
in a queenly way, as she motioned to 
them with her feelers. " I will come by 
and by/ 



A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree. 139 

" No," said they, " you must come at 
once or we shall all go back to the Bee 
tree. You must stay with us. You must 
do your part as it should be done." And 
she had to go, for she knew in her heart 
that Queens have to obey the law as well 
as other people. 

After she had hung with the Workers 
on the bush for some time, the ones who 
had gone ahead to find a new home for 
the swarm came back and gave the signal 
for the rest to follow. They went to an 
old log near the river-bank, and here they 
began the real work. Crawling through 
an opening at one end, they found a 
roomy place within, and commenced to 
clean house at once. 

" If there is anything I do like," said 
a Worker, as she dropped a splinter of 
rotten wood outside the door, " it is 
house-cleaning." 

" So do I," said her sister. " But what 
a fuss the Drones always make when we 



140 Among the Forest People. 

try to do anything of the sort ! A pretty- 
looking home we 'd have if they took 
care of it ! " 

" I 'm glad none of them came with us 
to this place," said the first Worker. "I 
guess they knew they were not wanted." 

" There, there ! " said the Queen- 
Mother, coming up to where they were ; 
"you must not talk in that way. It may 
be that you would rather do without 
Drones, and perhaps they would rather 
do without you ; but I need you both and 
I will not have any quarreling." When 
she said this she walked away with her 
head in the air, and the Workers did not 
scold any more. They knew that she 
was right, and, after all, she was their 
Queen, even if she did have to obey the 
laws. 

Next they got varnish from the buds 
of poplar trees and varnished over all the 
cracks and little holes in the walls of their 
home, leaving open only the place where 



A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree. 141 

they were to go in and out. They also 
covered with varnish a few heavy frag- 
ments of wood that lay on the floor of 
their home, and when this task was done 
it was all in order and ready for the furni- 
ture, that is, the comb. 

You know how the comb looks, and you 
know how they get the wax from which to 
make it, but unless you are acquainted 
with the Bees, and have seen them at 
work, you have no idea what busy creat- 
ures they are. The Queen-Mother, as 
soon as the cells were ready and she could 
begin laying eggs again, was as contented 
and happy as ever. 

One day, when she was walking around 
a corner of the comb, she ran against 
a sad and discouraged-looking Worker. 
"Why, what is the matter?" said she, 
kindly. " Are you sick ? " 

" No," answered the Worker. " I 'm 
not sick and I 'm not tired, only I want 
to get through." 



142 Among the Forest People. 

" Through with what?" asked the 
Queen. 

"With work! It is clean house, var- 
nish the walls, make wax, build combs, get 
honey, make bread and jelly, and feed the 
babies. And when they get old enough 
they '11 have to clean house, varnish the 
walls, make wax, build combs, get honey, 
make bread and jelly, and feed the babies. 
I want to know when it is going to stop, 
and Bees can spend their time in play." 

14 Never," said the Queen-Mother; and 
she spoke very gently, for she saw that 
the Worker was crazy. "It will never 
stop. If you had nothing to do but play 
all your life you would soon want to die, 
and you ought to, for there is no place in 
this world for idlers. You know that after 
a while the Drones die because they do 
nothing, and it is right they should." 

" Don't you ever get tired of your 
eggs ? " asked the Worker. 

" No," answered the Queen-Mother, 



A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree. 143 

" I don't. You see, I have so much to 
think about, and happy thoughts make 
tasks light. And then, you know, it is 
not always the same kind of ^gg y and that 
makes a pleasant change for me. I will 
give you a motto to remember : ' As long 
as a Bee is well, work is pleasant when 
done faithfully.' " 

" Perhaps that is the matter with me," 
said the Worker, raising her drooping 
head. " I have been careless lately when 
I thought nobody was looking. I will try 
your way." 

When she had gone, the Queen-Mother 
smiled to herself and said : " Poor child ! 
When work is no longer a pleasure, life is 
indeed sad. But any Larva should know 
better than to work carelessly when she is 
not watched." 



AS* 



S***5<L 






axex 






dWMs 



m 



II 



Aj 




THE HAUGHTY 
GROUND HOG 



Not far from the 
home of the Rabbits 
was another burrow 
where the Ground Hog 
lived, and there was a 
very kindly feeling be- 
tween the neighbors. 
They liked the same 
food, and as there was 
plenty for all, they often 
nibbled together near 
the edge of the forest. 
The little Rabbits were 

fond of him and liked 
144 



The Haughty Ground Hog. 145 

to listen to his stories. Once the biggest 
little Rabbit had run into the Ground 
Hog's burrow by mistake when he was 
frightened, and that was the beginning 
of a great friendship between them. 

They were a queer-looking couple, for 
the Rabbit was small and quick and 
dainty, while the Ground Hog, with his 
stout body covered with thick, reddish 
fur, his broad, flat head, and his short 
legs, was a clumsy fellow. To be sure, 
he could get out of sight quickly if he 
had to, but he never scampered around 
and kicked up his heels for the fun of it, 
as the Rabbits did. He was too dignified 
to do that. He came of an old family 
and he could remember who his grand- 
father was. There were but few people 
in the forest who could do that; so, of 
course, he could not frisk like his neigh- 
bors. 

Perhaps if the Ground Hog had not 
belonged to so old a family, he might 



146 Among the Forest People. 

have had a better time. Yet the thought 
that he could remember his grandfather 
was a great pleasure to him, and when 
he was talking he would often remark in 
the most careless way, " as my grandfather 
used to say"; or, " That reminds me of 
something my grandfather once did." 
Some people said that he did this to 
show off ; but it may be that they were 
envious. 

However that may have been, the 
Ground Hog was certainly a haughty 
fellow, and if he had not been so gentle 
and kind a neighbor people would not 
have liked him. Only once had he been 
known to get angry, and that was when 
a saucy young Chipmunk had spoken of 
him as a Woodchuck. " Woodchuck ! 
Woodchuck ! " he had grunted. " You 
young Bushy-tail, I am a Ground Hog, 
and the Ground Hog family lived in this 
forest long before you ever opened your 
eyes. People with good manners do not 



The Haughty Ground Hog. 147 

call us * Woodchucks.' We do not like 
the name. My grandfather could not 
endure it." 

It was not very long after this that he 
told the wondering young Rabbits about 
his grandfather. When talking, the Ground 
Hog rested by the edge of his burrow, 
sitting on his haunches, and waving his 
queer little forepaws whenever he told 
anything especially important. And this 
was the story : 

" Perhaps you may have heard me speak 
of my grandfather. Ah, he was a Ground 
Hog worth seeing! He was large, and, 
although when I knew him the black fur 
on his back was streaked with gray, he 
was still handsome. He was clever, too. 
I have often heard my father say that he 
could dig the deepest and best burrow in 
the forest. And then he had such fine 
manners ! There was not another Ground 
Hog in the country around who could eat 
as noisily as he, and it is said that when he 



148 Among the Forest People. 

was courting my grandmother she chose 
him because of the elegant way in which 
he sat up on his haunches. I have been 
told, children, that I am very much like 
him." 

Just here, a Red-headed Woodpecker 
gave a loud " Rat-a-tat-tat " on the tree 
above the Ground Hog's head, and there 
was a look around her bill as though 
she wanted to laugh. The Ground Hog 
slowly turned his head to look at her as 
she flew away. " Quite a good-looking 
young person," he said, " but badly brought 
up. She should know better than to dis- 
turb those who are talking. What was I 
saying, children ? " 

" You were telling how well your grand- 
father sat up on his haunches," said the 
smallest little Rabbit. 

" So I was ! So I was ! I must tell 
you how my grandfather came to know 
the world so well When he was only a 
young fellow, he made his home for a time 



The Haughty Ground Hog. 149 

by a Hen house, and so heard the talk of 
the barn-yard people. Once he heard 
them tell how the farmer watched on a 
certain winter day to see my grandfather 
come cut of his burrow. Of course, you 
children all know how we Ground Hogs 
do ; in the fall we are very fat, and when 
the cold weather comes we go to sleep in 
our burrows to wait for spring. Some- 
times we awaken and stretch, but we go 
to sleep again very soon. Then, when 
spring comes we are slender and have 
healthy appetites. 

14 The Hens treated my grandfather with 
great politeness, and the Black Brahma 
Cock showed plainly how honored they 
felt to have him there. They said that 
they were so glad my grandfather stayed 
out of his burrow awhile on this winter 
day when the farmer was watching, be- 
cause they were in a hurry for warm 
weather. My grandfather did not know 
what they meant by that, but he was too 



150 Among the Forest People. 

wise to say so, and he found out by ask- 
ing questions, that if a Ground Hog leaves 
his burrow on this certain day in winter, 
and sees his shadow, and goes back again, 
it will be cold for a long time after that. 
If he does not see his shadow, and stays 
out, it will soon be warm. 

"You see now, children, how important 
our family is ; and yet we are so modest 
that we had not even known that we made 
the weather until the Hens told my grand- 
father. But that is the way ! Really great 
people often think the least of themselves." 

" And do you make the weather ? " asked 
the smallest little Rabbit. 

" I suppose we do," said the Ground 
Hog, with a smile. " It is a great care. 
I often say to myself : ' Shall I have it warm, 
or shall I have it cold V It worries me so 
that sometimes I can hardly eat." 

" And how do you know when the day 
comes for you to make the weather ? " said 
the smallest little rabbit. 



The Haughty Ground Hog. 151 

" Ahem ! Well-er ! I am sorry to say 
that my grandfather did not find out ex- 
actly what day it is that they watch for us, 
so I have to guess at that. But to think 
that we Ground Hogs make the weather 
for all the other people ! It is worth a 
great deal to belong to such a family. I 
suppose I might have been a Weasel, a 
Fox, an Owl, or an Oriole. And it is a 
great thing to have known one's grand- 
father. ,, 

The little Rabbits sat very still, wishing 
that they had known their grandfather, 
when suddenly the biggest one said : " If 
you should stay out of your burrow when 
that day comes, and another Ground Hog 
should go back into his burrow, how would 
the weather know what to do?" 

" Children," said the old Ground Hog, 
" I think your mother is calling to you. 
You might better go to see. Good-by." 
And he waved his paw politely. 

The seven little Rabbits scampered 



152 Among the Forest People. 

away, but their mother was not calling 
them. She was n't even there, and when 
they went back they could n't find the 
Ground Hog. They wondered how he 
happened to make such a mistake. The 
Red-headed Woodpecker who came along 
at about that time, twisted her head on 
one side and said : " Made-a-mistake ! Rat- 
a-tat-tat ! Not he ! " 



fv> 



V ^RATTLESNAKE 



-^ 



c?1- 



r/if 



It is not often that one of 
the Forest People has any 
trouble about making up his 
mind, but there was one large 
Rattlesnake who had great 
difficulty in doing so. She 
lived in the southern edge of 
the forest, where the sunshine was clear and 
warm, and there were delightful crevices 
among the rocks in which she and all her 
friends and relatives could hide. 

It seemed very strange that so old a 
Snake should be so undecided as she was. 
It must be that she had a careless mother 

153 



154 Among the Forest People. 

who did not bring her up in the right 
way. If that were so, one should indeed 
be sorry for her. Still even that would 
be no real excuse, for was she not old 
enough now to train herself ? She had 
seven joints in the rattle on her tail and 
an eighth one growing, so you can see 
that she was no longer young, although, 
being healthy, she had grown her new 
joints and changed her skin oftener than 
some of her friends. In fact, she had 
grown children of her own, and if it had 
not been that they took after their father, 
they would have been a most helpless 
family. Fortunately for them, their father 
was a very decided Snake. 

Yes, it was exceedingly lucky for them. 
It may not have been so good a thing for 
him. His wife was always glad to have 
things settled for her, and when he said, 
u We will do this," she answered, " Yes, 
dear." When he said, " We will not do 
that," she murmured, " No, dear." And 



The Undecided Rattlesnake. 155 

when he said, " What shall we do?" she 
would reply, " Oh, I don't know. What 
do you think we might better do ?" He 
did not very often ask her opinion, and 
there were people in the forest who said 
he would never have talked matters over 
with her if he had not known that she 
would leave the decision to him. 

Now this is a bad way in which to have 
things go in any family, and it happened 
here as it would anywhere. He grew 
more and more selfish from having his 
own way all of the time, and his wife be- 
came less and less able to take care of 
herself. Most people thought him a very 
devoted husband. Perhaps he was. It 
is easy to be a devoted husband if you 
always have your own way. 

One night Mr. Rattlesnake did not re- 
turn to their home. Nobody ever knew 
what had become of him. The Red 
Squirrel said that Mrs. Goldfinch said 
that the biggest little Rabbit had told her 



156 Among the Forest People. 

that the Ground Hog had overheard Mr. 
Crow say that he thought he saw some- 
body that looked like Mr. Rattlesnake 
chasing a Field Mouse over toward the 
farm, but that he might have been mis- 
taken. This was all so uncertain that 
Mrs. Rattlesnake knew no more than 
she had known before. It was very 
trying. 

" If I only knew positively," she said to 
her friend, Mrs. Striped Snake, " I could 
do something, although I am sure I don't 
know what it would be." 

Mrs. Striped Snake tried to help her. 
" Why not have one of your children 
come home to live with you ? " she said 
pleasantly, for this year's children were 
now old enough to shift for themselves. 

" I 've thought of that," answered Mrs. 
Rattlesnake, " but I like a quiet life, and 
you know how it is. Young Snakes will 
be young Snakes. Besides, I don't think 
they would want to come back." 



The Undecided Rattlesnake. 157 

"Well, why not be alone, then ?" 

" Oh, it is so lonely," replied Mrs. Rat- 
tlesnake, with a sigh. " Everything re- 
minds me so of my husband, and that 
makes me sad. If I lived somewhere else 
it would be different." 

"Then why not move?" said Mrs. 
Striped Snake, briskly. " I would do 
that. Find a nice crack in the rock just 
big enough for one, or make a cosy little 
hole in the ground somewhere near here. 
Then if he comes back he can find you 
easily. I would do that. I certainly 
would." 

She spoke so firmly that Mrs. Rat- 
tlesnake said she would, she would to- 
morrow. And her friend went home 
thinking it was all settled. That shows 
how little she really knew Mrs. Rattle- 
snake. 

The more Mrs. Rattlesnake thought it 
over that night, the more she dreaded 
moving. " If he does not come back," 



158 Among the Forest People. 

she sighed, " I may marry again in the 
spring, and then I might have to move 
once more. I believe I will ask somebody 
else what I ought to do." 

So in the morning she began to consult 
her friends. They all told her to move, 
and she decided to do it. Then she could 
not make up her mind whether to take a 
rock-crevice or make a hole in the ground. 
It took another day of visiting to settle 
that it should be a hole in the ground. A 
fourth day was spent in finding just the 
right place for her home, and on the fifth 
day she began work. 

By the time the sun was over the tree- 
tops, she wished she had chosen some 
other place, and thought best to stop and 
talk to some of her friends about it. 
When she returned she found herself 
obliged to cast her skin, which had been 
growing tight and dry for some time. 
This, was hard work, and she was too 
tired to go on with her home-making, so 



The Undecided Rattlesnake. 159 

she lay in the sunshine and admired her 
beautiful, long, and shining body of red- 
dish brown spotted with black. Her 
rattle had eight joints now, for when a 
Rattlesnake casts the old skin a new joint 
is always uncovered at the end of the tail. 
She waved it quickly to see how an eight- 
jointed rattle would sound. " Lovely ! " 
she said. " Lovely ! Like the seeds of 
the wild cucumber shaking around in their 
dry and prickly case." 

One could not tell all the things that 
happened that fall, or how very, very, 
very tired her friends became of having 
her ask their advice. She changed her 
mind more times than there are seeds in a 
milkweed pod, and the only thing of which 
she was always sure was eating. When 
there was food in sight she did not stop 
for anybody's advice. She ate it as fast 
as she could, and if she had any doubts 
about the wisdom of doing so, she kept 
them to herself. 



160 Among the Forest People. 

When winter came she had just got her 
new home ready, and after all she went 
when invited to spend the winter with a 
cave party of other Snakes. They coiled 
themselves together in a great mass and 
slept there until spring. As the weather 
grew warmer, they began to stir, wriggling 
and twisting themselves free. 

Two bachelor Snakes asked her to 
marry. One was a fine old fellow with a 
twelve-jointed rattle. The other was just 
her own age. 

" To be sure I will," she cried, and the 
pits between her nostrils and her ears 
looked more like dimples than ever. 
" Only you must wait until I can make 
up my mind which one to marry." 

" Oh, no," they answered, " don't go to 
all that trouble. We will fight and decide 
it for you." 

It was a long fight, and the older of the 
two Snakes had a couple of joints broken 
off from his rattle before it was over. 



The Undecided Rattlesnake. 161 

Still he beat the other one and drove him 
away. When he came back for his bride 
he found her crying. " What is the mat- 
ter ? " said he, quite sternly. 

" Oh, that p-poor other b-bachelor ! " she 
sobbed. " I b-believe I will g-go after 
him. I think p-perhaps I 1-love him the 
b-better." 

" No, you don't, Mrs. Rattlesnake/' 
said the fine old fellow who had just won 
the fight. " You will do no such thing. 
You will marry me and never speak to 
him again. When I have lost two joints 
of my rattle in fighting for you, I intend 
to have you myself, and I say that you 
love me very dearly. Do you hear ? " 

" Yes, darling," she answered, as she 
wiped her eyes on the grass, " very 
dearly." And they lived most happily 
together. 

" He reminds me so much of the first 
Mr. Rattlesnake," she said to her friends. 
u So strong, so firm, so quick to decide ! " 



1 62 Among the Forest People. 

And the friends said to each other, 
"Well, let us be thankful he is. We 
have been bothered enough by her coming 
to us for advice which she never fol- 
lowed." 



THE QUARRELSOME MOIE 





When the first hillock of fresh brown 
.earth was thrown up in the edge of the 
Forest, the People who lived there said to 
each other. " Can it be that we have a 
new neighbor ? " 

Perhaps the Rabbits, the Ground Hogs, 
and the Snakes cared the most, for they 
also made their homes in the ground ; yet 
even the Orioles wanted to know all about 
it. None of them had ever been acquainted 
with a Mole. They had seen the ridges 
in the meadows beneath which the Moles 

had their runways, and they knew that 

163 



164 Among the Forest People. 

when the Moles were making these long 
streets under ground, they had to cut an 
opening through the grass once in a while 
and throw the loose earth out. This new 
mound in the forest looked exactly like 
those in the meadow, so they decided 
there must be a Mole in the neighbor- 
hood. 

If that were so, somebody should call 
upon him and get acquainted ; but how 
could they call ? Mrs. Red Squirrel said : 
" Why can't some of you people who are 
so clever at digging, burrow down and 
find him ? " 

" Yes indeed," twittered the birds ; 
"that is a good plan." 

But Mr. Red Squirrel smiled at his wife 
and said : 4t I am afraid, Bushy-tail (that 
was his pet name for her) that none of 
our friends here could overtake the Mole. 
You know he is a very fast runner. If 
they were following they could never 
catch him." 



The Quarrelsome Mole. 165 

" Let them burrow down ahead of the 
place where he is working, then/' said she. 

" And the Mole would turn and go an- 
other way, not knowing it was a friend 
looking for him." 

" Well, why not make an opening into 
one of his runways and go into it, hunting 
until he is found ? " said Mrs. Red Squirrel, 
who was like some other people in not 
wishing to give up her own ideas. 

" Yes," cried a mischievous young 
Woodpecker ; " let the Ground Hog go. 
You surely don't think him too fat ? " 

Now there was no denying that the 
Ground Hog was getting too stout to 
look well, and people thought he would 
be angry at this. Perhaps he was angry. 
The little Rabbits were sure of it. They 
said they knew by the expression of his 
tail. Still, you know, the Ground Hog 
came of a good family, and well-bred peo- 
ple do not say mean things even if they 
are annoyed. He combed the fur on his 



1 66 Among the Forest People. 

face with both paws, and answered with a 
polite bow : " If I had the slender and 
graceful form of my charming friend, Mrs. 
Red Squirrel, I should be delighted to do 
as she suggests." 

That was really a very clever thing for 
Mr. Ground Hog to say. It was much 
more agreeable than if he had grunted 
out, " Much she knows about it ! We 
burrowing people are all too large." And 
now Mrs. Red Squirrel was pleased and 
happy although her plan was not used. 

That night Mrs. Ground Hog said to 
her husband : " I did n't know you ad- 
mired Mrs. Red Squirrel so much." And 
he answered : " Pooh ! Admire her ? She 
is a very good-looking person for one of 
her family, and I want to be polite to her 
for her husband's sake. He and I have 
business together. But for my part I 
prefer more flesh. I could never have 
married a slender wife, and I am pleased 
to see, my dear, that you are stouter than 



The Quarrelsome Mole. 167 

you were." And this also shows how 
clever a fellow Mr. Ground Hog was. 

The very next night, as luck would have 
it, the Mole came out of his runway for a 
scamper on the grass. Mr. Ground Hog 
saw him and made his acquaintance. " We 
are glad to have you come," said he. 
" You will find it a pleasant neighbor- 
hood. People are very friendly." 

" Well, I 'm glad of that," answered the 
Mole. " I don't see any sense in people 
being disagreeable, myself, but in the 
meadow which I have just left there were 
the worst neighbors in the world. I stood 
it just as long as I could, and then I moved." 

" I am sorry to hear that," said the 
Ground Hog, gently. " I had always sup- 
posed it a pleasant place to live in." He 
began to wonder what kind of fellow the 
Mole was. He did not like to hear him 
say such unkind things before a new ac- 
quaintance. Sometimes unpleasant things 
have to be said, but it was not so now. 



1 68 Among the Forest People. 

" Umph ! " said the Mole. " You have 
to live with people to know them. Of 
course, we Moles had no friends among 
the insects. We are always glad to meet 
them in the ground, but they do not seem 
so glad to meet us. That is easily under- 
stood when you remember what hungry 
people Moles are. Friendship is all very 
well, but when a fellow's stomach is empty, 
he can't let that stand in the way of a 
good dinner. There was no such reason 
why the Tree Frog or the Garter Snake 
should dislike me." 

" Are you sure they did dislike you '?" 

" Certain of it. I remember how one 
night I wanted to talk with the Garter 
Snake, and asked him to come out of his 
hole for a visit in the moonlight. He 
would n't come." 

" What did he say ?" asked the Ground 
Hog. 

"Nota word ! And that was the worst 
of it. Think how provoking it was for 



The Quarrelsome Mole. 169 

me to stand there and call and call and 
not get any reply." 

" Perhaps he was not at home," sug- 
gested the Ground Hog. 

" That 's what he said when I spoke to 
him. Said he was spending the night down 
by the river. As though I 'd be likely 
to believe that ! I guess he saw that he 
could n't fool me, though, for after I told 
him what I thought of him he wriggled 
away without saying a word." 

11 Still he is not so disagreeable as the 
Tree Frog," said the Mole, after a pause 
in which the Ground Hog had been try- 
ing not to laugh. The Ground Hog said 
afterward that it was the funniest sight 
imaginable to see the stout little Mole 
scampering back and forth in the moon- 
light, and stopping every few minutes to 
scold about the Meadow People. The 
twitching of his tiny tail and the jerky 
motions of his large, pink-palmed digging 
hands, showed how angry he grew in 



1 70 Among the Forest People. 

thinking of them, and his pink snout fairly 
quivered with rage. 

" I will tell you about the Tree Frog," 
said the Mole. " He is one of these fel- 
lows who are always just so good-natured 
and polite. I can't endure them. I say 
it s putting on airs to act that way. I 
was telling him what I thought of the 
Garter Snake, and what should he do but 
draw himself up and say : ' Excuse me, 
but the Garter Snake is a particular friend 
of mine, and I do not care to hear him 
spoken of in that way.' I guess I taught 
him one good lesson, though. I told him 
he was just the kind of person I should 
expect the Garter Snake to like, and that 
I wished them much joy together, but that 
I did n't want anything to do with them. 

" It was only a short time after this that 
I had such trouble about making my fort. 
Whenever I started to dig in a place I 
would find some other Mole there ahead 
of me." 



The Quarrelsome Mole. 171 

" And then you would have to go some- 
where else, of course ? " said the Ground 
Hog. 

"I'd like to know why!" said the 
Mole, with his glossy silver-brown fur on 
end. " No indeed ! I had a perfect right 
to dig wherever I wished, and I would 
tell them so, and they would have to go 
elsewhere. One Mole was bad-tempered 
enough to say that he had as much right 
in the meadow as anybody, and I had to 
tussle with him and bite him many times 
before he saw his mistake. . . . They 
are disagreeable people over there, — but 
why are you going so soon ? I thought 
we would have a good visit together." 

" I promised to meet Mrs. Ground 
Hog," said her husband, " and must go. 
Good-night ! " and he trotted away. 

Not long afterward this highly respect- 
able couple were feeding together in the 
moonlight. " What do you think of the 
Mole?" said she. 



172 Among the Forest People. 

"Well, — er — ahem," answered her hus- 
band. "You know, my dear, that I do 
not like to talk against people, and I might 
better not tell you exactly what I think of 
him. He is a queer-looking fellow, and I 
always distrust anyone who will not look 
me in the eye. Perhaps that is not his 
fault, for the fur hides his eyes and he 
wears his ears inside of his head ; but 
I must say that a fiercer or more disagree- 
able-looking snout I never saw. He has 
had trouble with all his old neighbors, and 
a fellow who cannot get along peaceably 
in one place will not in another. He is 
always talking about his rights and what 
he thinks " 

" You have told me, enough," said Mrs. 
Ground Hog, interrupting him. " Nobody 
ever liked a person who insists on his 
1 rights ' every time. And such a person 
never enjoys life. What a pity it is ! " 
and she gave a sigh that shook her fat 
sides. " Now, I had it all planned that he 



The Quarrelsome Mole. 173 

should marry and set up housekeeping, 
and that I should have another pleasant 
neighbor soon." 

" Ah ! Mrs. Ground Hog," said her hus- 
band teasingly, " I knew you would be 
thinking of that. You are a born match- 
maker. Now I think we could stand a 
few bachelors around here, — fine young 
fellows who have nothing to do but en- 
joy life." And his eyes twinkled as he 
said it. 

" As though you did not enjoy life ! " an- 
swered his wife. " Still, I could not wish 
any young Mole such a husband as this 
fellow. It is a great undertaking to marry 
a grumpy bachelor and teach him the 
happiness of living for others." And she 
looked very solemn. 

" I suppose you found it so ?" said Mr. 
Ground Hog, sidling up toward her. 

" What a tease you are !" said his wife. 
"You know that I am happy." And 
really, of all the couples on whom the 



1 74 Among the Forest People. 

moon looked that night, there was not a 
happier one than this pair of Ground 
Hogs ; and there was not a lonelier or 
more miserable person than the Mole, who 
guarded his own rights and told people 
what he thought of them. But it is al- 
ways so. 



0? 

\< si 







IllPf 






"THE ^VILX> 
TURKEY5 
COME A A * 



The Wild Turkeys 
are a wandering peo- 
ple, and stay in one 
place only long 
enough to rear their 
young. One could 
hardly say that they 
lived in the Forest, 
but every year when 
the acorns and 
beechnuts were ripe, 
they came for a visit. 
It is always an excit- 
ing time when the 
Turkeys are seen 

175 




1 76 Among the Forest People. 

gathering on the farther side of the river 
and making ready to fly over. Some 
of the Forest People have started for the 
warmer country in the South, and those 
who still remain are either talking over 
their plans for flight, or working hard, if 
they are to spend the winter in the North, 
to get their stores of food ready. 

It was so this year. One morning a 
Red-headed Woodpecker brought the 
news that the Turkeys were gathering. 
The Ground Hog heard of it just as he 
was going to sleep after a night of feeding 
and rambling in the edge of the meadow. 
One of the young Rabbits told him, and 
coaxed him to stay up to see the newcomers. 

" I 've never seen Turkeys in my life," 
said the young Rabbit, u and they say it is 
great fun to watch them. Oh, please come 
with me to the river-bank and see the 
Turkeys cross over. Please do ! " 

"Ah-h-h," yawned the Ground Hog. 
" You might better ask somebody who has 



The Wild Turkeys Come. 177 

not been up all night. I am too sleepy." 
" You won't be sleepy when you reach 
the river-bank," said the Rabbit. " Be- 
side, I think there should be someone 
there to meet them." 

At this, the Ground Hog raised his 
drooping head, opened his blinking eyes, 
and answered with great dignity : " There 
should indeed be someone. I will go at 
once." 

When they reached the river-bank there 
was a sight well worth seeing. On the 
farther side of the water were a great many 
Turkeys. Old Gobblers were there, and 
the mother Turkeys with their broods of 
children, all looking as fine as you please, 
in their shining black coats. When they 
stood in the shadow, one might think that 
they wore no color but the brilliant red of 
their heads and necks, where there were 
no feathers to cover their wrinkled skin. 
When they walked out into the sunshine, 
however, their feathers showed gleams of 



1 78 Among the Forest People. 

beautiful purple and green, and the Rabbit 
thought them the most wonderful great 
creatures he had ever seen. 

" Look at them now ! " he cried. " Why 
do those largest ones walk up and down 
in front of the rest and scold them ? " 

" They are the Gobblers/' answered the 
Ground Hog, "and they are doing that to 
show that they are not afraid to cross the 
river. They strut and gobble, and strut 
and gobble, and say : ' Who 's - afraid ? 
Who 's-afraid ? ' until the rest are ready to 
fly over." 

" Now the others are doing the same 
thing," said the Rabbit, as the mothers 
and young Turkeys began to strut back 
and forth. 

" That shows that they are willing to 
cross," answered the Ground Hog. " Now 
they will fly up to the very tops of the 
trees on the hill and visit there for a time. 
It is always so. They start from the 
highest point they can find. It will be 



The Wild Turkeys Come. 179 

some time before they come over, and I 
will take a short nap. Be sure to awaken 
me when they start. I want to welcome 
them to the Forest." And the Ground 
Hog curled himself up beside a log and 
went to sleep. 

The Rabbit wandered around and ate 
all the good things he could find. Then 
he fell to wondering how it would feel to 
be a bird. He thought it would be great 
fun to fly. To pass so swiftly through the 
air must be delightful, and then to sweep 
grandly down and alight softly on the 
ground without having people know that 
you were coming ! 

He had a good mind to try it. There 
was nobody to watch him, and he crept up 
the trunk of a fallen tree which leaned over 
against its neighbors. It was a foolish 
thing to do, and he knew it, but young 
Rabbits are too full of mischief to always 
be wise. 

" I will hold my hind legs very still," he 



180 Among the Forest People. 

thought, " and flap my forelegs for wings." 
With that he jumped off and came crash- 
ing down upon the dry leaves. He felt 
weak and dizzy, and as he picked himself 
up and looked around he hoped that no- 
body had seen him. "It may be a great 
deal of fun to fly," he said, " but it is no 
fun alighting from your flight unless you 
have real feather wings. It is too bumpy 
when you fly with your legs." 

At this minute he heard an old Gobbler 
call out, and saw the flock of Turkeys 
coming toward him. " Wake up ! Wake 
up!" he cried to the Ground Hog. But 
the Ground Hog never moved. 

Still the Turkeys came nearer. The 
Rabbit could see that the fat old ones 
were getting ahead of the others, and that 
here and there a young or weak Turkey 
had to drop into the river and swim, be- 
cause his wings were tired. They got so 
near that he could see the queer little tufts 
of wiry feathers which the Gobblers wear 



The Wild Turkeys Come. 181 

hanging from their breast, and could see 
the swaying scarlet wattles under their 
beaks. He called again to the Ground 
Hog, and getting no answer, poked him 
three times with his head. 

The Ground Hog turned over, stretched, 
yawned, moved his jaws a few times as 
though he dreamed of eating fresh spring 
grass, and then fell asleep once more. Af- 
ter that the Rabbit left him alone. 

The first to alight were the Gobblers, 
and they began at once to strut and chat- 
ter. Next came the mother Turkeys and 
their young, and last of all came the weak 
ones who swam across. It was a fine sight 
to see them come in. The swimmers 
spread their tails, folded their wings tight- 
ly, stretched their necks, and struck out 
swiftly and strongly with their feet. 

The young Rabbit could hear a group 
of mothers talking together. " The Gob- 
blers are growing quite fond of the chil- 
dren," said one. 



1 82 Among the Forest People. 

" Yes," said another ; " my husband told 
me yesterday that he was very proud of 
our little ones." 

" Well, it is the season for them to be- 
gin to walk together," said the first 
speaker ; " but I never in my life had such 
a time as I had this spring. I thought my 
husband would break every egg I laid." 

" I had a hard time too," said the other. 
" None of my eggs were broken, but after 
my chicks were hatched I had to hurry 
them out of their father's sight a dozen 
times a day." 

" It. is very trying," said a third mother 
Turkey with a sigh ; " but that is always 
the way with the Gobblers. I suppose 
the dear fellows can't help it ; " and she 
looked lovingly over at her husband as 
he strutted around with his friends. You 
would not have believed if you had seen 
her fond looks, and heard her husband's 
tender " Gobble," that they had hardly 
spoken to each other all summer. To be 



The Wild Turkeys Come. 183 

sure, it was not now as it had been in the 
springtime. Then he would have beaten 
any other Gobbler who came near her, he 
loved her so ; still, the Rabbit could see 
as he watched them that when he found 
some very large and fine acorns, this Gob- 
bler would not eat them all, but called his 
wife to come and share with him ; and he 
knew that they were happy together in 
their own Turkey way of being happy. 

At this minute the Ground Hog opened 
his eyes and staggered to his feet. The 
loud talking had awakened him. He did 
not look very dignified just now. His 
fur was rumpled, and he blinked often 
from sleepiness. There was a dry leaf 
caught on one of his ears, too, that made 
him look very odd. The Rabbit wanted 
to laugh, but he did not dare to do so. 
The Ground Hog walked toward the 
Gobblers, and raised himself on his 
haunches. 

" Good -evening, good -evening," said 



184 Among the Forest People. 

he (it was really morning, you know). 
" We are very glad to welcome you to 
the forest. Make yourselves perfectly at 
home. The grass is not so tender as it 
was a while ago, yet I think that you will 
find good feeding," and he waved his 
paws politely. 

" Thank - you, — thank-you ! " answered 
the Gobblers, while the mothers and 
young Turkeys came crowding up to look 
at the Ground Hog. " We came for the 
acorns and nuts. We shall certainly en- 
joy ourselves." 

"That is right," said the Ground Hog 
heartily. " We have a very fine forest 
here. You will pardon me for remarking 
it. The Pond People have a saying that 
is very true: 'It 's a mighty poor Frog 
that won't croak for his own puddle.' 
And my grandfather used to say that if 
a Ground Hog did n't love his own home 
he was a very poor Hog indeed. Good- 
night, my friends, good-night." And he 



The Wild Turkeys Come. 185 

trotted happily away, followed by the 
Rabbit. 

When he was gone, the Turkeys said : 
" How very kind of him ! " and " What 
fine manners ! " And the young Rabbit 
thought to himself : " It is queer. He 
was sleepy and his fur was rumpled, and 
that leaf bobbed around his ear when he 
talked. He said ' evening ' instead of 
'morning/ and spoke as though Turkeys 
came here to eat grass. And yet they all 
liked him, and were pleased by what he 
said. 

You see the young Rabbit had not yet 
learned that the power of fine manners is 
more than that of looks ; and that people 
could not think of the Ground Hogs mis- 
takes in speaking because they knew his 
kindness of heart. 




h 



THE TRAVELERS 

GO SOUTH ^^^ 



One night a maple tree, the very one 
under which Mr. Red Squirrel sat when 
he first came to the forest, dreamed of 
her winter resting-time, and when she 
awakened early in the morning she found 
that her leaves were turning yellow. They 
were not all brightly colored, but on each 
was an edging, or a tip, or a splash of gold. 
You may be sure that the Forest People 
noticed it at once. 

" I told you so," chirruped a Robin to 

186 



The Travellers Go South. 187 

her mate. " The Orioles went long ago, 
and the Bobolinks start to-day. We must 
think about our trip to the South." When 
she said this, she hopped restlessly from 
twig to twig with an air of being exceed- 
ingly busy. 

Her husband did not answer, but began 
to arrange his new coat of feathers. Per- 
haps he was used to her fussy ways and 
thought it just as well to keep still. He 
knew that none of the Robins would start 
South until the weather became much 
colder, and he did not think it necessary 
to talk about it yet. Perhaps, too, Mr. 
Robin was a trifle contrary and was all 
the more slow and quiet because his wife 
was uneasy. In that case one could 
hardly blame her for talking over the 
family plans with the neighbors. 

Later in the day, a Bobolink came up 
from the marsh to say good-by. He had 
on his travelling suit of striped brown, and 
you would never have known him for the 



1 88 Among the Forest People. 

same gay fellow who during the spring 
and early summer wore black and buff 
and sang so heartily and sweetly. Now 
he did not sing at all, and slipped silently 
from bush to bush, only speaking when 
he had to. He was a good fellow and 
everyone disliked to have him go. 

Mrs. Cowbird came up while they were 
talking. Now that she did not care to 
lay any more eggs, the other birds were 
quite friendly with her. They began to 
talk over the summer that was past, and 
said how finely the young birds were com- 
ing on. " By the way," said she, in the 
most careless manner possible, " I ought 
to have a few children round here some- 
where. Can anybody tell me where they 
are ? " 

Mrs. Goldfinch looked at her husband 
and he looked at the sky. The Warblers 
and the Vireos, who had known about the 
strange egg in the Goldfinches' nest, had 
already left for the winter, and there 



The Travellers Go South. 189 

seemed to be no use in telling their secret 
now or quarrelling over what was past. 
Some of the other birds might have told 
Mrs. Cowbird a few things, but they also 
kept still. 

" It is a shame/' she said. " I never 
laid a finer lot of eggs in my life, and 
I was very careful where I put them. I 
wish I knew how many there were, but I 
forgot to count. I have been watching 
and watching for my little birds to join 
our flock ; I was sure I should know them 
if I saw them. Mothers have such fine 
feelings, you know, in regard to their 
children. ,, (As though she had any right 
to say that !) 

The Mourning Doves were there with 
their young son and daughter, and you 
could see by looking at them that they 
were an affectionate family. " We shall 
be the last to go South/' they cooed. " We 
always mean to come North in the very 
early spring and stay as late as possible. 



190 Among the Forest People. 

This year we came much later than usual, 
but it could not be helped." They had 
spoken so before, and rather sadly. It 
was said that they could tell a sorrowful 
story if they would ; but they did not wish 
to sadden others by it, and bore their 
troubles together bravely and lovingly. 

" How do the new feathers work?" 
asked a Crow, flying up at this minute 
and looking blacker than ever in his fall 
coat. Then all the birds began to talk 
about dress. As soon as their broods 
were raised, you know, their feathers had 
begun to drop out, and they had kept on 
moulting until all of the old ones were 
gone and the new ones on. When birds 
are moulting they never feel well, and 
when it is over they are both happy and 
proud. 

" I changed later than usual this year," 
said the Crow, " and I feel that I have 
the very latest fashions." This was a joke 
which he must have picked up among the 



The Travellers Go South. 191 

Barnyard People, and nobody knows 
where they got it. Fashions never change 
in the Forest. 

" I think/' remarked a Red-headed 
Woodpecker, " that I have the best wing 
feathers now that I ever had. They 
seem to be a little longer, and they 
hook together so well. I almost wish 
I were going South to try them on a long 
journey." 

" Mr. Woodpeckers wing feathers are 
certainly excellent," said his wife, who was 
always glad to see him well dressed. " I 
am sure that the strongest wind will never 
part them. I don't see how the Owls can 
stand it to wear their feathers unhooked 
so that some of the air passes through 
their wings each time they flap them. It 
must make flying hard." 

" Well, if you were an Owl you would 
understand," chuckled the Crow. " If 
their great wings were like ours, the noise 
of their flying would scare every creature 



192 Among the Forest People. 

within hearing, and there would not be 
much fun in hunting." 

And so they chatted on, while from the 
meadow came the sound of the happy in- 
sects piping in the sunshine. It was chilly 
now at night and in the early morning, 
and they could give concerts only at noon- 
day. The next day the Wild Turkeys 
came and there was great excitement in 
the forest. The Squirrels were busier 
than ever storing up all the acorns that 
they could before the newcomers reached 
the oak trees ; and the Blue Jays were so 
jealous of the Turkeys that they overate 
every day for fear there would not be 
enough to go around. As though there 
were any danger ! 

The Ground Hog was getting so sleepy 
now that he would doze off while people 
were talking to him, and then he would 
suddenly straighten up and say : " Yes, 
yes, yes ! Don't think that I was asleep, 
please. The colors of the trees are so 



The Travellers Go South. 193 

bright that they tire my eyes and I some- 
times close them." The dear old fellow 
really never knew how he had been 
nodding. 

The Snakes, too, were growing dull and 
slow of motion, while the Bats talked 
freely of hanging themselves up for the 
winter. The Grouse and Quail made 
daily trips to the edges of the grain-fields, 
and found rich picking among the stubble. 
You could almost fancy that they came 
home each night fatter than when they 
went away in the morning. 

Life went on in this way for many days, 
and the birds had all stopped singing. 
There were no more happy concerts at 
sunrise and no more carols at evening ; 
only chirrupings and twitterings as the 
feathered people hopped restlessly from 
one perch to another. All could see that 
they were busily thinking and had no 
time for music. The truth was that each 
bird who was not to spend the winter in 



194 Among the Forest People. 

the Forest felt as though something were 
drawing — drawing — drawing him south- 
ward. It was something they could not see 
or hear, and yet it was drawing — drawing — 
drawing all day and all night. They 
spoke of it often to each other, and the 
older birds told the young ones how, be- 
fore long, they would all start South, and 
fly over land and water until they reached 
their winter home. 

" How do we know where to go?" 
asked the children. 

" All that you have to do," the older 
ones said, " is to follow us." 

" And how do you know ? " they asked. 

" Why, we have been there before," 
they answered; " and we can see the 
places over which w T e pass. But perhaps 
that is not the real reason, for sometimes 
we fly over such great stretches of water 
that we can see nothing else and it all 
looks alike. Then we cannot see which 
way to go, but still we feel that we are 



The Travellers Go South. 195 

drawn South, and we only have to think 
about that and fly onward. The fathers 
and sons can fly the faster and will reach 
there first. The mothers and daughters 
come a few days later. We never make 
a mistake." 

" It is wonderful, wonderful," thought a 
young Rabbit on the grass below. " I 
must watch them when they go." 

The very next morning the Forest Peo- 
ple awakened to find a silvery frost on the 
grass and feel the still air stirred by the 
soft dropping of damp red, brown, and 
yellow leaves from the trees. Over the 
river and all the lowland near it hung a 
heavy veil of white mist. 

" It is time ! " whispered the Robins to 
each other. 

" It is time ! " cooed the Mourning Doves. 

" It is time ! " cried the Cowbirds in 
their hoarse voices. 

All through the forest there was rest- 
lessness and quiet haste. The Juncoes 



196 Among the Forest People. 

had already come from the cold northland 
and were resting from their long flight. 
The Ground Hogs, the Rabbits, and the 
Squirrels were out to say good-by. The 
Owls peeped from their hollow trees, 
shading their eyes from the strong light 
of the sun. And then the travellers went. 
The Robins started in family parties. The 
Mourning Doves slipped quietly away. 
The Cowbirds went in a dashing crowd. 
And the Crows, after much talking and 
disputing on the tree-tops, took a noisy 
farewell of the few members of the flock 
who were to remain behind, and, joining 
other flocks from the North, flew off in a 
great company which darkened the sky 
and caused a shadow to pass over the 
stubble-field almost like that of a summer 
cloud. 

" They are gone ! " sighed the Ground 
Hog and his wife. " We shall miss them 
sadly. Well, we can dream about them, 
and that will be a comfort." 



Ihe Travellers Go South. 197 

" J a Y ' J a Y • " shrieked a handsome- 
crested fellow from the tree above. " What 
if they are gone ? They will be back in 
the spring, and we have plenty to eat. 
What is the use of feeling sad? Jay! 
Jay ! " 

But all people are not so heartless as 
the hungry Blue Jays, and the song-birds 
had many loving friends who missed them 
and longed for their return. 




The Ruffed Grouse 
cocked his crested head 
on one side and looked 
up through the bare 
branches to the sky. It 
was a soft gray, and in 
the west were banks of 
bluish clouds. " I think 
it will snow very 

soon/' said he. " Mrs. 

198 



The Ruffed Grouse's Story. 199 

Grouse, are the children all ready for cold 
weather ? " 

" All ready," answered his cheerful little 
wife. " They have had their thickest 
feathers on for quite a while. The Rab- 
bits were saying the other day that they 
had never seen a plumper or better 
clothed flock than ours." And her beau- 
tiful golden-brown eyes shone with pride 
as she spoke. 

Indeed, the young Ruffed Grouse were 
a family of whom she might well be proud. 
Twelve healthy and obedient children do 
not fall to the lot of every Forest mother, 
and she wished with a sad little sigh that 
her other two eggs had hatched. She 
often thought of them with longing. How 
lovely it would have been to have fourteen 
children ! But at that moment her brood 
came crowding- around her in fright. 

" Some cold white things," 'they said, 
" came tumbling down upon us and scared 
us. The white things did n't say a word. 



200 Among the Forest People. 

but they came so fast that we think they 
must be alive. Tell us what to do. Must 
we hide ?" 

" Why, that is snow ! " exclaimed their 
mother. " It drops from the clouds up 
yonder quite as the leaves drop from the 
trees in the fall. It will not hurt you, but 
we must find shelter." 

"What did I tell you, Mrs Grouse?" 
asked her husband. " I was certain that 
it would snow before night. I felt it in 
my quills." And Mr. Grouse strutted with 
importance. It always makes one feel 
so very knowing when he has told his wife 
exactly w r hat will happen. 

" How did you feel it in your quills?" 
asked one of his children. " Shall I feel 
it in my quills when I am as old as you 
are ? " 

" Perhaps," was the answer. " But un- 
til you do feel it you can never understand 
it, for it is not like any other feeling that 
there is." 



The Ruffed Grouse's Story. 201 

Then they all started for a low clump 
of bushes to find shelter from the storm. 
Once they were frightened by seeing a 
great creature come tramping through the 
woods towards them. " A man ! " said 
Mr. Grouse. " Hide ! " said Mrs. Grouse, 
and each little Grouse hid under the 
leaves so quickly that nobody could see 
how it was done. One might almost think 
that a strong wind had blown them away. 
The mother pretended that she had a 
broken wing, and hopped away, making 
such pitiful sounds that the man followed 
to pick her up. When she had led him 
far from her children, she, too, made a 
quick run and hid herself ; and although 
the man hunted everywhere, he could not 
find a single bird. 

You know that is always the way in 
Grouse families, and even if the man's 
foot had stirred the leaves under which a 
little one was hiding, the Grouse would 
not have moved or made a sound. The 



202 Among the Forest People. 

children are brought up to mind without 
asking any questions. When their mother 
says, " Hide ! " they do it, and never once 
ask " Why?" or answer, "As soon as I 
have swallowed this berry." It is no won- 
der that the older ones are proud of their 
children. Any mother would be made 
happy by having one child obey like that, 
and think of having twelve ! 

At last, the whole family reached the 
bushes where they were to stay, and then 
they began to feed near by. " Eat all 
you can," said Mr. Grouse, 4i before the 
snow gets deep. You may not have an- 
other such good chance for many days." 
So they ate until their little stomachs 
would not hold one more seed or ever- 
green bud. 

All this time the snowflakes were fall- 
ing, but the Grouse children were no 
longer afraid of them. Sometimes they 
even chased and snapped at them as 
they would at a fly in summer-time. It 



The Ruffed Grouse's Story. 203 

was then, too, that they learned to use 
snow-shoes. The oldest child had made a 
great fuss when he found a fringe of hard 
points growing around his toes in the fall, 
and had run peeping to his mother to ask 
her what was the matter. She had shown 
him her own feet, and had told him how 
all the Ruffed Grouse have snow-shoes of 
that kind grow on their feet every winter. 

" We do not have to bother about 
them at all," she said. " They put them- 
selves on when the weather gets cold in 
the fall, and they take themselves off 
when spring comes. We each have a 
new pair every year, and when they are 
grown we can walk easily over the soft 
snow. Without them we should sink 
through and flounder." 

When night came they all huddled 
under the bushes, lying close together to 
keep each * other warm. The next day 
they burrowed into a snow-drift and made 
a snug place there which was even better 



204 Among the Forest People. 

than the one they left ; the soft white 
coverlet kept the wind out so well. It 
was hard for the little ones to keep quiet 
long, and to amuse them Mr. Grouse told 
how he first met their mother in the spring. 

" It was a fine, sunshiny day," he said, 
" and everybody was happy. I had for 
some time been learning to drum, and 
now I felt that I was as good a drummer 
as there was in the forest. So I found a 
log (every Ruffed Grouse has to have his 
own place, you know) and I jumped up 
on it and strutted back and forth with my 
head high in the air. It was a dusky part 
of the forest and I could not see far, yet 
I knew that a beautiful young Grouse was 
somewhere near, and I hoped that if I 
drummed very well she might come to me." 

" I know ! " interrupted one of the 
little Grouse. " It was our mother." 

" Well, it was n't your mother then, my 
chick," said Mr. Grouse," for that was 
long, long before you were hatched." 



The Ruffed Grouse's Story. 205 

" She was our mother afterwards, any- 
way/' cried the young Grouse. " I just 
know she was ! " 

Mr. Grouse's eyes twinkled, but he 
went gravely on. " At last I flapped my 
wings hard and fast, and the soft drum- 
ming sound could be heard far and near. 
1 Thump - thump - thump - thump - thump ; 
thump - thump - rup - rup - rup-rup-r-r-r-r-r-r- 
r-r-r.' I waited, but nobody came. Then 
I drummed again, and after that I was 
sure that I heard a rustling in the leaves. 
I drummed a third time, and then, chil- 
dren, there came the beautiful young 
Grouse, breaking her way through the 
thicket and trying to look as though she 
did n't know that I was there." 

"Did she know?" cried the little 
Grouse. 

" You must ask your mother that," he 
answered, " for it was she who came. Ah, 
what happy days we had together all 
spring ! We wandered all through this 



206 Among the Forest People. 

great Forest and even made some journeys 
into the edge of the Meadow. Still, there 
was no place we loved as we did the 
dusky hollow by the old log where we first 
met. One day your mother told me that 
she must begin housekeeping and that I 
must keep out of the way while she was 
busy. So I had to go off with a crowd 
of other Ruffed Grouse while she fixed 
her nest, laid her eggs, and hatched out 
you youngsters. It was rather hard to 
be driven off in that way, but you know it 
is the custom among Grouse. We poor 
fellows had to amuse ourselves and each 
other until our wives called us home to 
help take care of the children. We Ve 
been at that work ever since." 

" Oh ! " said one of the young Grouse. 
" Oh, I am so glad that you drummed, 
and that she came when she heard you. 
Who would we have had to take care of 
us if it had n't happened just so ? " 

That made them all feel very solemn, 



The Ruffed Grouse's Story. 207 

and Mr. Grouse could n't answer, and 
Mrs. Grouse could n't answer, and none 
of the little Grouse could answer because, 
you see, it is one of the questions that 
has n't any answer. Still, they were all 
there and happy, so they did n't bother 
their crested heads about it very long. 




A MILD DAV 
HV WINTER 




It had been a cold 
and windy winter. 
Day after day the 
storm-clouds had 
piled up in the 
northwest and 
spread slowly over 
the sky, dropping 
great ragged flakes 
of snow down to 
the shivering earth. 
Then the forest 
trees were clothed 
in fleecy white gar- 
ni e n t s, and the 
branches of the 
evergreens drooped 
under their heavy 
cloak. 

Then there had 



208 



A Mild Day in Winter. 209 

been other days, when a strong wind 
stripped the trees of their covering, and 
brought with it thousands of small, hard 
flakes. These flakes were drier than the 
ragged ones had been, and did not cling 
so lovingly to everything they touched. 
They would rather frolic on the ground, 
rising again and again from their resting- 
places to dance around with the wind, 
and help make great drifts and over- 
hanging ledges of snow in the edge of 
the Forest, where there was more open 
ground. 

It is true that not all the winter had 
been cold and stormy. There were times 
when the drifts melted slowly into the 
earth, and the grass, which last summer 
had been so tender and green, showed 
brown and matted on the ground. Still 
the Great Horned Owl and his wife could 
not find enough to eat. u We do not 
mean to complain," said he with dignity, 
as he scratched one ear with his feathered 



210 Among the Forest People. 

right foot, " but neither of us has had a 
meal hearty enough for a healthy Robin, 
since the first heavy snow came." 

This was when he was talking to his 
cousin, the Screech Owl. " Hearty enough 
for a Robin !" exclaimed Mrs. Great 
Horned Owl. " I should say we had n't. 
I don't think I have had enough for a 
Goldfinch, and that is pretty hard for a 
bird of my size. I am so thin that my 
feathers feel loose." 

" Have you been so hungry that you 
dreamed about food?" asked the Screech 
Owl. 

" N-no, I can't say that I have," said the 
Great Horned Owl, while his wife shook 
her head solemnly. 

" Ah, that is dreadful," said the Screech 
Owl. " I have done that several times. 
Only yesterday, while I lay in my nest- 
hollow, I dreamed that I was hunting. 
There was food everywhere, but just as I 
flew down to eat, it turned into pieces of 



A Mild Day in Winter. 211 

ice. When I awakened I was almost 
starved and so cold that my beak chat- 
tered." 

It was only a few days after the Screech 
Owls call upon his cousins that he 
awakened one night to find the weather 
milder, and the ground covered with only 
a thin coating of soft snow. The beautiful 
round moon was shining down upon him, 
and in the western sky the clouds were 
still red from the rays of the setting sun. 

Somewhere, far beyond the fields and 
forests of this part of the world, day-birds 
were beginning to stir, and thousands of 
downy heads were drawn from under 
sheltering wings, while in the barnyards 
the Cocks were calling their welcome to 
the sun. But the Screech Owl did not 
think of this. He aroused his wife and 
they went hunting. When they came 
back they did not dream about food. 
They had eaten all that they could, and 
the Great Horned Owl and his wife had 



212 Among the Forest People. 

made a meal hearty enough for a dozen 
Robins, and a whole flock of Goldfinches. 
It was a good thing for the day-birds that 
this was so, for it is said that sometimes, 
when food is very scarce, Owls have been 
known to hunt by daylight. 

When morning came and it was the 
moon's turn to sink out of sight in the 
west, the Owls went to bed in their hollow 
trees, and Crows, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, 
Chickadees, Grouse, Quail, Squirrels, and 
Rabbits came out. The Goldfinches were 
there too, but you would never have known 
the husbands and fathers of the flock, un- 
less you had seen them before in their 
winter clothing, which is like that worn by 
the wives and children. Here, too, were 
the winter visitors, the Snow Buntings and 
the Juncos, brimming over with happiness 
and news of their northern homes. This 
warm day made them think of the coming 
springtime, and they were already plan- 
ning their flight 



A Mild Day in Winter. 213 

" I wish you would stay with us all 
summer," said a friendly Goldfinch, as he 
flirted the snow off from a tall brown 
weed and began to pick out and eat the 
seeds. 

"Stay all summer!" exclaimed a jolly 
little Snow Bunting. " Why should we 
want to stay ? Perhaps if you would prom- 
ise to keep the snow and ice we might." 

" Why not ask the Goldfinches to come 
north with us?" suggested a Junco. 
" That would be much more sensible, for 
they can stand the cold weather as well as 
we, but we cannot stand warm days, such 
as I hear they have in this part of the 
country after the ice melts." 

Then the older people of the group 
began to talk of the cares of life and 
many other things which did not interest 
their children, so the younger ones wan- 
dered away from them. 

" I say," called a young Junco to a 
young Snow Bunting, " would n't you like 



214 Among the Forest People. 

to show some of these playmates of ours 
the countries where we were born ?." 

" Yes indeed," answered the Snow Bunt- 
ing. " Would n J t they open their eyes, 
though ? I 'd like to have them see the 
rocks up there." 

" And the animals," said the Junco. 

."-Yes! Wouldn't they stare at the 
Bears, though ! " 

" Humph," said a Blue Jay. " I would n't 
care very much about seeing Bears, would 
you?" And he turned to a Crow near by. 

" No," said the Crow. " I don't think 
very much of Bears anyway." He said 
this as though he had seen them all his 
life, but the Chickadees say that he never 
saw even a Cub. 

"They haven't any big animals here," 
said the Junco to the Snow Bunting. 

" Have n't we, though ? " replied the Blue 
Jay. " Guess you would n't say that if you 
saw the Ground Hog. Would he say 
that ? " he asked, turning to the young 



A Mild Day in Winter. 215 

Grouse, Quaii, Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, 
Chickadees, Squirrels, and Rabbits who 
stood around listening. 

" No indeed ! " they answered, for they 
wanted their visitors to understand that 
the Forest was a most wonderful place, 
and they really thought the Ground Hog 
very large. 

" I don't believe he is as big as a Bear," 
said the Snow Bunting, with his bill in 
the air. 

" How big is he ?" asked the Junco. 

Now the Blue Jay was afraid that the 
birds from the north were getting the 
better of him, and he felt very sure that 
they would leave before the Ground Hog 
had finished his winter sleep, so he did 
what no honest bird would have even 
thought of doing. He held his crested 
head very high and said, u He is bigger 
than that rock, a great deal bigger." 

The Crow looked at the rock and gave 
a hoarse chuckle, for it was a hundred 



216 Among the Forest People. 

times larger than the Ground Hog. The 
Grouse, Quail, Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, 
Chickadees, Squirrels, and Rabbits looked 
at each other without saying a word. 
They knew how the Blue Jay had lied, 
and it made them ashamed. The Grouse 
pretended to fix their snow-shoes. They 
did not want to look at the birds from the 
north. 

The Snow Buntings and Juncos felt 
that it would not do to talk about Bears 
to people who had such a great creature 
as the Ground Hog living among them. 
" He must be wonderful," they said. 
" Where does he sleep ? " 

" In the Bats' cave," answered the Clue 
Jay, who having told one lie, now had to 
tell another to cover it up. <( He sleeps 
in the middle and there is just room left 
around the edges for the Bats." 

Now at this very time the Ground Hog 
was awake in his burrow. He could feel 
that it was warmer and he wanted room 



A Mild Day in Winter. 217 

to stretch. He thought it would seem 
good to have an early spring after such a 
cold winter, so he decided to take a walk 
and make the weather, as his grandfather 
had done. When he came out of his 
burrow he heard a great chattering and 
went to see what was the matter. That 
was how it happened that soon after the 
Blue Jay had told about the Bats' cave, 
one wide-awake young J unco saw a red- 
dish-brown animal trotting over the grass 
toward them. " Who is that ? " he 
cried. 

The Grouse, Quail, Woodpeckers, Gold- 
finches, Chickadees, Squirrels, and Rabbits 
gave one look. " Oh, there is the Ground 
Hog!" they cried. Then they remem- 
bered and were ashamed again because of 
what the Blue Jay had said. 

" Oh ! " said the Snow Buntings and the 
Juncos. " So that is the Ground Hog! 
Big as that rock, is he ? And you don't 
think much of Bears ? " 



218 Among the Forest People. 

The Crow pointed one claw at the Blue 
Jay. "I never said he was as big as that 
rock. He is the fellow that said it." 

"I don't care," said the Blue Jay ; "I 
was only fooling. I meant to tell you 
after a while. It 's a good joke on you." 
But he had a sneaky look around the bill 
as he spoke, and nobody believed him. 
Before long, he and the Crow were glad 
enough to get away from the rest and 
go away together. Yet even then they 
were not happy, for each began to blame 
the other, and they had a most dreadful 
fight. 

When the Ground Hog was told about 
it he said, " What foolishness it is to want 
to tell the biggest story ! My grandfather 
told us once that a lie was always a lie, 
and that calling it a joke did n't make it 
any better. I think he was right." 

And the Snow Buntings and Juncos, who 
are bright and honest, nodded their dainty 
little heads and said, " Nobody in our own 



A Mild Day in Winter. 219 

dear north country ever spoke a truer 
word than that." So they became firm 
friends of the Ground Hog, even if he 
were not so large as the rock. 



THE END. 



'Many a mother and teacher will accord a vote 
of thanks to the author. ' ' 




Among the Meadow People. 

STORIES OF FIELD LIFE, WRITTEN FOR THE LITTLE ONES. 

By CLARA D. P1ERSON. 

Illustrated by F. C. Gordon. 
i2mo, 127 pages, cloth, gilt top - $1.25. 



" One of the daintiest and in many ways most attractive 
of the many books of nature study which the past year has 
brought forth." — Boston Advertiser. 

"They are like Mrs. Gatty's well-known 'Parables from 
Nature,' written in the best of English, as fascinating as fairy 
tales, and yet ' really true,' a quality which we all know 
appeals to the childish mind." — N . Y. Evangelist. 

"We have seen nothing better for its purpose, and hope 
many a teacher of kindergartens and many a mother may 
avail herself of the privilege of using these little tales." — 
N. Y. Christian Advocate. 

"It will be a great advance in the work of education in the 
school and the home when such books are more generally 
utilized." — Zions Herald. 

"These charming stories of field life will delight many a 
child of kindergarten age ; and it is safe to say that older 
brothers and sisters will also want to claim a share in them." 
— Christian Register. 



Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price. 
E. P. DUTTON & CO., Publishers, 

West 23d Street = = = = = New York. 



SEP 23 1898 



